Mario and Luigi, Re: Start
by Tetramy
Summary: By a mysterious and unknown force, the Super Mario Brothers are transported into a strange magical world with no clear way of returning home. Mario must now use everything in his power in order to save those that he loves, even if it kills him.
1. Chapter 1: The Problematic Pipes

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different results." Albert Einstein

* * *

Chapter 1: The Problematic Pipes

The sky was a brilliant blend of reds and oranges on the cool summer morning, and even though the town sitting in front of a great castle was slowly coming to life, the small cottage sitting on a faraway hill was the only building with any form of activity. The quaint little house belonged to none other than the Mario brothers, and anyone with a brain knows about the pipe fixing, koopa stomping, princess saving duo.

Inside, a green clad, half asleep, Luigi sat at the kitchen table waiting for a telephone call. Despite being the only plumbers in the land, they still didn't get that much work, but they still had to be ready for it. Luigi's eyes were half closed, and the tea he was drinking didn't help too much in waking him up. He had a green nightgown on, and a sleeping cap with matching colors. His bunny slippers silently tapped the ground to the beat of a grandfather clock. The House was silent, and uneventful, with the only disturbance coming from the occasional sip of green tea from a mug with a L on the front of it.

The ring of the old school telephone took the lanky green plumber by surprise, and as high-pitched metal pierced the air, Luigi slowly picked up the phone at a pace only a snail could match.

"Mario brother's plumbing, *yawn* you clog em', we fix em'. Luigi Speaking" He simply recited their slogan with little effort to hide his drowsiness.

"Luigi! We have an emergency at the Castle." An old but wise voice responded, in a slightly panicked manor.

"What-a seems to be the problem Toadsworth." Luigi spoke unfazed by the old man's terrified voice.

"We have a plumbing problem at the castle! The entire pipe room is destroyed, and if the problem isn't fixed soon, the Castle will become a water works!"

"That-a sounds bad," Luigi commented, "So I'm-a guessing you want us to help?"

"Yes! And I expect you and Master Mario to be here no later than six o'clock." And just like that, the call was over.

"Mama Mia," Luigi muttered, as he placed the phone back onto its pedestal, "I'm-a not ready for work just yet, the sun isn't even up yet" His head slowly crept towards the direction of the clock, taking a sip of his drink in the process, and he froze by what he said. It took a couple seconds for the panic to take hold of Luigi, but once it did, he spit out his drink and took off like a mad man back towards the only other room the cabin, the bedroom.

"Mario! Wake up! We got-a work to do!" His yelling had no effect on Mario, the older, shorter, and slightly chubbier brother, who was still sound asleep in an attire is similar to his brothers, minus the bunny slippers. He then took to shaking the bunk bed, still resulting in nothing. In one last attempt to wake up his brother, he hit the bottom of the bed with his fist, knocking Mario off the bed, and once he fell from the top bunk and hit the floor, he was jerked wide awake.

"Luigi!" He yelled with a slightly deeper Italian accent, "What was-a that for!" Mario began to rub his head from where it hit the floor as he began to rise up to his feet.

"We just-a got a call on the telephone, we have-a job to do!" his voice frantic and shaky.

"I don't-a think that warranted you to wake me up like-a that." He casually walked over to the small kitchen and started to prepare a cup of coffee in a cup with a red M emblazoned on it. "It can't-a be that important."

"But the call came from-a Toadsworth, there is pipe trouble at the castle!" Mario, becoming more intrigued, seemed to spike up with a happy glow. Still, he was putting most of his focus to his morning beverage, which he had now begun to drink.

"Well I see why it's so important, but Luigi, why are you so worried." Mario's voice showing concern, as Luigi was visibly sweating from his forehead, and his actions were all clumsily done. "This isn't the first time we have a worked at Peach's castle you know."

Luigi was already in the middle of getting dressed, his shirt and striped socks were already on, with his blue overalls being buttoned up. He simply said, "We have to be there by six!" before continuing getting dressed. Mario turned towards the clock to check the time and was shocked by the fact that is was turning on five forty. His cup dropped from his hands and hit the floor, spilling the rest of his coffee onto the dry wood.

"Mama Mia!" he shouted as he dashed back towards the bedroom to join his brother in getting dressed. It only took half of the time it took for Luigi to get his pants on for Mario to become fully clothed in his iconic outfit, that was very similar to his brothers, besides the color of course. They had their shoes on, tools at the ready, and were out of the door faster than you could say 'fettuccini with alfredo sauce'. They were about to break out into a mad dash for the castle if it weren't for one thing.

"Mario, missing something" Luigi said while pointing towards his head, where his green hat sat on his head. Mario reached up to his own and only found a forest of hair.

"Your right! I almost forgot-a my hat" and he ran back into the house for less than a second before emerging out with a red cap in hands. When he reached Luigi, Mario placed and straightened his hat on his head before he said, "Let's-a go!" in iconic fashion as the brothers took off towards Peaches Castle.

* * *

As the Italian pair ran down the streets of toad town, they received many greetings in the form of 'Good Morning!' and, 'Hello Mario, heading to work are you.' Most called out Mario by name, but on the rare occasion, some would greet Luigi's specifically. It didn't bother him too much, as Mario was the one who came into town more often, as Luigi didn't like all the attention. Plus, Mario was the more popular brother of the two.

When they reached the from gate of the castle, they took a minute to catch their breath. After a minute or so, they knocked on the door with a rhythm one could hum to. Mario looked at his wrist watch that read five to six, which was decent time given how far they had to run. As the door opened, the two brothers began to speak in tune with each other.

"Mario brother's plumbing! you clog em', we fix em!" In front of them stood an elder toad wore a brown mushroom shaped hat, and had a small mustache covering his mouth.

"Oh good!" the mushroom man spoke in a relieved voice. "I was beginning to worry that you two wouldn't show up. Come quickly, I'll show you the way to the..." he didn't get to finish his sentence when the brothers piped in.

"No need Toadsworth." Luigi said first.

"We know-a the way to the pipe room, this isn't the first-a time we've been in-a the castle." Mario finished.

"Oh, of course, well while you two start working I have some things I need to take care of myself. I'll check in on you two in an hour or so." And with that, the mushroom started walking off towards the castle.

"Mario and Luigi nodded to each other and went towards a tower in the back of the castle with a stair case to an underground room where they would be working for the majority of the day.

* * *

Once they finally entered the room, they were treated to an unpleasant surprise. The underground pipe room was filled with a knee-deep layer of water covering the floor. The cause was water pouring out of the connection points of several rainbow-colored pipes that darted randomly around the room. The brothers simply stood in awe at the mess they had to clean up.

"Whelp, we've got-a lot of work to do" Mario said as he straightened up his cap, "Let's -a go!" and he dashed towards the leaky pipes with an enthusiastic run. Luigi stood for a second longer, until he adjusted his tool belt and sped off to join his brother with a wrench in hand from his toolbelt.

The twin brothers went to work immediately, and although Mario did most of the work, Luigi did help with some of the harder to reach pipes. They jumped to each Leakey pipe with a springy leap and used a wrench, screw driver, and a variety of other tools to tighten, loosen, or completely replace broken pipes. The floor water was pumped into a hose to be dumped into a storage unit, and the broken pipes were put in corner to be sent off to be turned into scrap.

The hours flew by, and they had almost completed their job by the time lunch came around. Luigi took a lunch break, while His older brother continued with the last little bit of work.

"Alrighty, that about-a does it." Mario spoke with a hint of exhaustion in his voice, as he wiped sweat from his forehead. "Luigi, turn on the water."

Luigi, who was eating a turkey sandwich, was sitting right next to the handle that activated the water. He simply gave a thumb up and flipped the switch with his hand to let the water flow. The sounds of flowing liquid came from a pipe next to the switch and began to travel along the maze of pipes that filled the room. The brother's heads followed where the water went along the path until it came to a stop by a pipe that stood only a few feet from where Mario was standing. Luigi, unprompted, turned off the water and let Mario investigate

Mario placed his hand on the spot where the issue was. "There is-a probably something inside of-a this pipe." He then took a wrench from his belt and began detaching the bolts holding the metal piece in its place. Once the pipe fell of, a bit of water poured out onto the floor and Mario's overalls, but by that point the two were already soaking wet, so he didn't really care. He then shook the pipe piece a few times until a small mushroom fell out of the tube, and into Mario's hands.

"Eh? What's-a this?" Mario had dropped the pipe onto the floor and began to examine the mushroom more thoroughly. The overall style of it was the same as a magic mushroom, but it was a little smaller, and lighter. The base was a light beige, with eyes that had a mixture of dark purple and black. Its top colors were an ocean blue and pale white similar to that of somebody who is ill. Despite its coloration, the mushroom didn't harm him, so it's effects would most likely be positive.

"Whatcha got-a there Mario?" Luigi said while looking over his brothers shoulder to see what he was holding, unaware of the crumbs on his face from his lunch.

"I don't-a know, it seems to be a power-up of some kind." He then gave the mushroom to Luigi to hold onto, so he could put the pipe back into its proper spot.

"I have-a never seen a mushroom like this before." His voice held a large amount of caution, "Mario I think you should have this, you found it after all." When he finished up with the pipe, and their work with it, Mario turned around to see his brother holding the mushroom in the palm of his extended left hand.

"Alright, I'll take it." Mario then took the mushroom, placed it into his pocket, and reattached his wrench to his took belt. "Well, that's everything. We should-a head up to see Toadsworth and the princess."

"That's-a right! We need to let-a them know that we are done." Luigi responded.

"Yes, plus nobody came-a down to see how our work was going." Mario's comment caused Luigi to look towards a watch of his own and saw that it had been mush longer than an hour since they started working and indeed nobody came down check on their work.

Luigi put his hand up to his chin, tilted his head, and began to ponder "I wonder why nobody came, it's-a not like Toadsworth to go against his word?"

"I know, and that's-a why we should-a go see them" said Mario after had flipped the switch to the water flow to the rest of the castle again. "Come on, let's-a go."

The two quickly retraced their steps back towards the front of the castle, and then began to navigate the halls towards the throne room, passing by guards and house workers doing tedious chores like cleaning or repainting the pink and yellow walls, all of whom said 'hello' to the two as they passed by. They were about halfway to their destination when a large boom echoed though the castle walls, shaking furniture and knocking down those who did have great footing. Luigi was one of those people, and he fell to the floor with soft thud.

"M-M-Mario," he said worriedly, "W-w-what was-s-a that-a noise" Although he had a hunch of what caused it, he couldn't help but ask.

"I think I know, but it sounds like it came from the throne room. Come on!" He then broke into a sprint with surprising speed for his body weight, Leaving Luigi to chase after him.

* * *

Mario dashed towards the throne room, turning around corners and brushing past house workers who were all running in the opposite direction. Once he got there, he pushed open the door to hear two distinct voices call out his name. One was melodic and hopeful, and the other rough and rage filled. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was unfolding in front of his eyes, as this scenario had played out before to many times to count. Peach, who was inside of a metal cage with a large pink bow wrapped around it, was about to be kidnaped by Bowser, the King of the Koopa's… Again.

"Mario!" Bowser said with a deep yet playful voice. "What a surprise, I didn't think I would be seeing you just yet." His face was in a crooked smile and his eyes were cartoonishly angry.

"Well that's-a shame," Mario responded back with a similar attitude towards his arch nemesis. "I was just coming back from fixing some pipes."

"What?! You already fixed my distraction" in an instant, all of the cunning and seriousness drained out of his face and was replaced by confusion and frustration. "Minions! Explain yourselves!"

From behind the throne, three figures came out from the shadows, all of which seamed slightly worried. "What do you mean, we did what you said Lord Bowser." The first one who spoke was a red Paratroopa, who wore a bucket on his head and green shoes.

"Yeah!" the second was a green Shy Guy who was wearing backpack with a green pipe and a magic wand peeping out of the top. "We went into the big pipe room and went kapow! on everything we could find."

Bowser turn to the group and let his head fall into a facepalm. "Well clearly you didn't go kapow hard enough, otherwise Mario wouldn't be here!" The atmosphere of the room seamed to shift from danger to a goofy mess, Mario's fighting stance loosened a little, and a frightened Toadsworth slowly crept out from behind a potted plant.

The last of the three minions, a Goomba wearing clothes that could only compare to blue pajamas, spoke up "Well maybe we shouldn't have distracted Mario with a task that he could do in his sleep."

"Shut it" Bowsers roar blew the three backwards a bit and nearly took them off of their feet. "Why didn't you say anything when we were planning back at my castle Private Goomp"

"Because privates weren't invited sir." The Goomba responded.

"No excuses!" he roared again, this time completely knocking his minion backwards. "Paraplonk! Why didn't you bring this up."

"Because corporal's weren't invited either" and in almost the same fashion, the Paratroopa fell to his feet from a mighty roar.

"Sargent Guy! Explain yourself, I know you were at the meeting!" the daggers in Bowsers eyes aimed themselves his only standing minion.

"Well, t-the thing is." The Shy Guy began with a slight stutter, "I would have said something, but you just seemed so confident in your own plan, I didn't want to ruin your moment."

"Useless!" and like the previous minions, the Shy Guy fell to his feet from the shear force in Bowser's yell. "If you three were actually useful then we would have defeated Mario years ago!" It was only then when he actually noticed what was happening behind his back, as during his pity party, he completely forgot about Mario, who was now currently unlocking the cage that Peach was locked in with his green brother and a old brown toad. "Hey!" he said with a regained sense of composure. "What do you think you are doing!"

"Unlocking Peach's Cage." Luigi said, putting Bowser even more on edge.

"Don't you have any respect, I was in the middle of disciplining my minions!" Suddenly, an invisible lightbulb light up in his head, and a smirk grew on Bowsers face. "You know, it has been a while sense I have used that inhale ability, I think it's about time I give it another whirl" the faces of everyone standing by the cage froze, as that ability only meant one thing.

Not so long ago, when the evil genius Fawful tried to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he tricked Bowser into eating a special mushroom. The mushroom that gives the user the ability to inhale opponents into their body. Even though there were warp pipes inside his body that could transport anyone trapped inside back out, none of the pipes exited inside of Peach's Castle, which would allow Bowser to make his escape,

"Wait No!" Mario screamed, but it was too late, as Bowser already opened up his jaws, and a large, vacuum like tornado appeared and began to pull them towards his mouth.

Mario quickly grabbed onto the cage, which stopped him from falling deeper into the vortex due to the metals weight. Luigi did the same thing, but he seemed to wave around a little more than his brother did. Once Toadsworth began to be pulled towards his mouth Mario grabbed onto the end of a cane he was holding to save him from being pulled in. Slowly, the cage started to move inch by inch towards Bowser, and it was only a matter of time before they would have been pulled back into bowsers body, if it weren't for the mushroom that was in Mario's pocket.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled with anxiety in his voice, "Grab the mushroom out of-a my pocket!"

"What?" Luigi replied, unable to hear his brother over the fierce winds.

"The Mushroom in-a my pocket, Grab it!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, and this time, Luigi heard. He used his free hand to reach into his brothers pocket, and grabbed the strange mushroom, dropped it into the vortex, which carried it into Bowsers mouth and down into his stomach.

"Hurgh!" as predicted, the taste of mushrooms caused him to begin to choke and swell up inside. The vacuum dissipated, and everyone simply dropped to the floor as Bowser grabbed his neck and began to gag.

"Good thinking Mario!" Peach, who hadn't spoken a word since Mario first entered the room, exclaimed with joy in her voice.

"Indeed. That strange mushroom seemed to have stop Bowser in his tracks." Toadsworth added in, but it didn't take long for the Koopa to regain his senses.

"You think that will stop me." Mario and Luigi quickly struck into fighting stances in order to prepare for the battle looked very likely to unfold. "It won't take long at all for the rest of my troops to get here, and once they do. They will make you wish for mer…" He didn't finish his sentence, but instead simply froze with an unconformable look on his face.

"Lord Bowser?" the Paratroopa asked, who had finally recovered from his dazed state. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, you just stopped talking before you finished your evil monologue." The Shy guy inquired.

"Did you get stage fright Lord Bowser?" the Goomba questioned.

Bowser placed his hand his stomach before asking, "What was that mushroom? It's making my belly feel funny." but before anyone could respond, Bowser simply proofed out of existence leaving nothing behind but a large puff of eerie purple and blue smoke that covered the floor.

"Lord Bowser!" all three of Bowser's minions exclaimed before rushing over to where their master was previously standing.

"M-M-Mario?, where did Bowser g-go?" Luigi spoke with a stutter.

"I don't-a know" He responded puzzled, "It might have-a been that mushroom." Mario himself began to look around the room for himself, confused as to what just happened.

"Mario?" Peach spoke up, "what did bowser say right before he disappeared?" the brothers heads spun around towards peach, who was still stuck in the cage.

"Something about his-a belly feeling funny, why do-a you ask?" Mario spoke calmly for the situation.

She then placed her hand onto her stomach, "Oh… Oh dear." And in a very similar fashion to Bowser, She disappeared into thin air. Leaving nothing behind except for a cloud of smoke and three terrified individuals.

"Peach!" Mario yelled with hysteria in his voice and reached into the cage grasping fiercely for any sign of her, but she had vanished. He looked around the room, until his eyes landed on Luigi, who was pointing at the floor

"Toadsworth, j-j-just d-d-disappeared" Luigi's leg then suddenly gave out as he came crumbling to the floor. Then three small poofs came from the minions, who were nowhere to be found. Leaving only Mario and Luigi in the room.

"Mario" Luigi spoke with a voice filled with fear. "Are we next?"

"I, I don't-a know," the older brother uttered worriedly "how-a does your stomach feel?"

Luigi placed his hand on his belly, and look up and said, "I just-a thought I had butterflies in-a my stomach." before he dissipated into thin air.

Mario sat alone in the empty room, left with the question of where everybody went. Until something started to stir in his belly, and the next thing you know, there wasn't anybody in the room at all.


	2. Chapter 2: World 1-?

Chapter 2: 1 - ?

The hustle and bustle of the city wasn't the different from what you would hear from Toad Town. What was different however, was the fact that there was no Toads in sight. Instead of the small mushroom creatures, crowds of people, humans, wandered around the streets. They were wearing simple clothes with lots of accessories, different from the 'function over fashion' mentality of the Mushroom Kingdom. It wasn't just humans either, strange bipedal animals walked about as if there was no difference at all between them and the normal looking people in the area. There were dragon-like creatures pulling carriages down a large road at an alarming speed. Buildings stood tall and with little room in between one another, with small, farmers marker-like stands scattered on the side of them. The whole area was screaming fantasy world, and standing amongst the chaos, stood Mario, alone and confused.

Mario, quite literally, blinked from the castle into a completely different world without a clue as to where he was. There were no familiar faces, and everyone walking around gave him strange looks, almost all of them stood at least a foot taller than him. The only thing he could think of was 'where am I?' as he scanned the endless sea of people. Eventually, he turned towards a woman wearing plain brown clothing walking past him as if she was looking for something.

"Excuse-a me miss, but could you tell me where we are?" Although he was polite when asking the simple question, the first thing she did was look at him strangely, until she replied with hesitation in her voice.

"The capitol of Lugunica, you're not from around here aren't you."

"No, no I'm-a not, and I've-a never heard of Lugunica before. Would it happen to-a be near Saraland." Whether it was what he said, or how he said it, he didn't know, but the girl was put off by the small mustached man.

"Listen, I quite busy, so I don't have time to talk with strangers." She quickly turned away with a rushed attitude and left a very confused and frustrated Mario behind. After that, he turned towards one of the cat creatures that was walking by.

"Excuse a me, could you tell me," But the demi-human simply brushed Mario aside, as if he were a fly on it arm. "Hmph, well I guess-a I will find out on-a my own." He then started off in the opposite direction. He walked past endless amounts of stalls and people as he traveled along the crowed sidewalk. Everyone who looked at him couldn't help but stare at his foreign look until Mario looked at them, causing them to turn away. It wasn't until he looked at a street sign when he stopped traveling.

The words, or lack thereof, was uncomforting. The only things that were written on them were strange symbols, similar to that of characters in Earth's Asian languages. "This-a place doesn't use English, I really am-a lost, aren't I?" He muttered to himself, as he continued walking along the busy streets, walking along bridges, down alley ways, until it felt like he was going in circles.

"Mama Mia, I have-a traveled for ages and I've-a gone nowhere." He was sitting along the side of a building, bent into a slump without an idea in the world as to what to do. "I don't-a know where I am, and I don't-a know where anyone else is either." Everywhere Mario went looked the same as where he just was, with the only difference from where he was currently and where he started was the lack of carriages, and even more stalls than where he first arrived. His face fell into the palms of his hands and he began the panful process of giving up.

"Mario! Help me!" From the back-alley way next to where he was sitting, a call for help echoed into his ears. Mario snapped out of his slouch to face the direction where he heard the scream of terror.

Although his voice was sent out through the streets, the only person who payed attention to it was Mario. "That-a voice," he had heard it so many times that there could be no mistaking who made it. "Luigi, Luigi must-a be in trouble!" With tremendous might, Mario leapt off of the ground and ran form the sounds origin, and to his brother's aid.

* * *

"Would you look at this chump. Dude's a total scaredy cat."

"Your right, he's shaking more and a puppy out in the snow."

"Heh, so what is it going to be chump. Are ya going to give us your money, or are we going to have to take it.

Three men stood towering over the now petrified Luigi, who was sticking his hands up halfheartedly in a karate pose and inching backwards away from the terrible trio. One of the men was a tall giant with muscles that could crush boulders, another was the size of a toad and was wrapped from head to toe in cloth. The third and final member was a slender man with silver hair and snake-like eyes. Their intention was as clear as day, and in his current state, Luigi was defenseless.

He was stumbling over boxes and other small objects as he was being backed into a corner of the dark alley way, lit up only by streams of light that slipped through small gap in-between the towering buildings. "m-m-m-ma-ma" sounds came out of his mouth, but nothing that could be termed coherent.

"What's wrong scaredy cat? Does ya buddy have your tongue" the large man chuckled. There was no hope, who knew what the bandits were capable of, and his life was on the line. Luigi did the only thing he could think of and called out at the top of his lungs to the only person that could save him.

"Mario! Help Me!" the three bandits froze out of fear, but in almost an instance, the snake like bandit grabbed Luigi by the neck and silenced his plea for help.

"What do you think you're doing bub?" his voice was snarly and slurred immensely. "Are deal's with you, so quit your yapping' and ya might just make it out of here alive" Luigi's eyes started to water.

"Man, we thought you were gonna rat us out, but you didn't even call for any guards." the little man squeaked with a nasty smirk on his face.

"Yeah, who even is that Mario guy that you called anyway?" the Mountain spoke with a dimwittedness to him. "Is he your little cat buddy?"

"Only when I use-a super bell!" behind the three men, a short, chubby, red clad, mustached, and strange looking man with a funny accent stood tall and confident, as if he was a super hero ready to save the day.

The bandits looked at him with confusion, as they had no clue what a super bell was. The first to act was the snake man, who dropped Luigi to the ground. "So, you must be Mario." His tone was similar to that of Bowsers when his plans weren't derailing themselves.

"The one and-a only!" He responded with a smirk, puffing out his chest in the process.

"I didn't think you'd show up this fast, heck, I didn't think ya even existed."

"Well here I am-a now, so if you would-a be so kind as to leave my brother alone, that-a would be appreciated." His demand caused the three to burst into laughter, but his expression didn't falter.

"You" he gestured at the mountain of a man. "Show this little prick who his is messing with."

"You got it boss." The giant started towards him, barely made it two steps before Mario leapt up into the air with a springy jump, several times his own height. Mario then came crashing down on top of the mountains head, leapt off, and did a perfect triple backflip to his previous position where he straightened his cap. When he looked at the other to bandits, the only reaction they got was stunned silence, as the great beast fell to the ground with a thud.

"Who's-a next?" The red Italian said with a smile, only for both of the two to take a step backwards.

"Ya won't get away with this" the Snake man said as he and the smaller bandit dashed towards the larger man, and carried him farther into the eerie alley way, and eventually out of sight.

It didn't take long before Luigi ran over to his brother and began thanking. "Mario! I don't-a know what I would have-a done without you!" His voice was muffled from tears of joy, and from sticking his face into his brothers' arms.

"Don't worry bro, I've-a got you, there is nothing to be scared of anymore." Mario's voice reassured his frightened brother, who was still leaning into his brothers' shoulder, and for a while, they just sat in silence in the shadows of an unknown world.

* * *

Back in the main streets of the town, the reunited twins exchanged information on what had happened when they were separated. When Luigi woke up, he had found himself sitting on the edge of a fountain, surrounded in a strange environment and even stranger people. He never bothered to ask for help from anyone, as they all game him strange looks. He wandered aimlessly until he would up in the back-alley way where the bandits tried to mug him.

"I was a so scared, I didn't know what was going on, and those people just tried to attack me!" Luigi was going on in great detail of every aspect of his traumatic experience, even if most of what he said was redundant, Mario listened to him anyway. "The thing was, I didn't even have-a any coins on me to begin with, so when he tried asking me for…"

Luigi stood in place for a moment, until a deep grumble came from his belly. "Sorry, I guess I'm-a little hungry." Mario sighed, and dove into his pockets for anything that might be useful. Aside from a few knick knack's, the only thing that would help in the situation was a single dragon coin.

"I don't-a think that we can buy anything with this." Mario said glumly, holding the golden coin with full knowledge that it's value in the Mushroom kingdom was close to nothing.

"Well, we might as-a well look around, something could-a be on sale." Despite his effort to maintain positive and hopeful, Luigi's voice held a similar tone to his brothers, but they looked anyway. They scanned the nearby stalls until they spotted one that offered food. They walked up to the stand that offered a wide variety of fruit, where a large crate of apples took center stage.

After a giving the pair a strange look, the man behind the counter spoke to them in a rough but kind tone. "Hey there, either of you going to buy something?" The store clerk was strange looking like the rest of the people in the town, although his clothing wasn't that different from the general populous, his hair and goatee were a lime green that shone brightly even as he was standing in the shadows of his shop.

"I don't know," Mario said reaching into his back pocket, before holding out the coin. "Can this-a buy us anything?" The merchant grabbed the coin and inspected it closely, as it certainly was a strange sight to behold. The coin was the size of the brother's fists, which were unusually large. There was also a strange image carved into the coin of a smiling dinosaur looking creature with a large nose. Despite this, there was no doubt that the coin was made of pure gold.

"What kind of coin is this? I've never seen anything like it before." He held it out into the sunlight and began rotating it, watching it glisten in the sun.

"Well, the thing is," Luigi started, "We don't-a know how much this is worth because we aren't-a from around here." The man then looked at the coin intently for moment, before flashing a smile at the brothers.

"Well this coin is pretty rare, so it's value is a bit more than the stuff we use. I'd say that it's at least, twenty-five silver pieces. I could trade it in for you two, just so you have some local currency on hand." The two brothers looked at each other for a moment before non-verbally agreeing on the deal.

"Alright," Mario said holding out his hand, "You got-a deal."

Luigi quickly butted in front of his brother, knocking his hand down in the process. "And while you're at it, could you a give us a bag of-a fruit."

"Sure thing greenie!" The shop owner gave a thumbs up before turning towards the back of his shop to rummage through a large sack. All the while, Luigi began to fill a small paper bag with a variety of fruits, but mostly apples. The green haired man then turned around to hand Mario a sack of twenty silver coins, with five of them being used for the food. "Pleasure doing business with you." The man said with a smile as the two mustached men began walking away.

Luigi took no time at all to start digging into an apple from his fruit basket, and although he was hungry, Mario thought to himself as to what to do next. Neither of them knew where they were, how to read, and most importantly, where anybody else is. Memories of Peach's Castle flashed through his mind, watching everybody disappear one by one. Peach's eyes were filled with fear, looking straight into Mario's, right before she disappeared into nothingness. Was she alone in this city, or was she even in this place at all? He tried to focus on one thing at a time, but everything seemed to race by, creating more questions then he could answer.

Luigi however, had his mind on simpler things. As he ate his fruit, he was looking at all the different people there were, he counted normal people of different ages and sizes, but was more focused on the demi-humans. He saw dogs and cats standing on two feet and wearing clothes, and reptilian people doing the same. Although, the person that caught his eyes the most was a long, silver haired girl wearing a white dress that flew in the wind, walking about twenty feet in front of them. Her ears, although covered in the front and in the sides, were visible in the back, letting Luigi look directly at them. They were pointed, similar to that of an elf, which was a feature nobody else in the expansive crowd had. The thing he didn't understand was why they were being covered up, as they looked very pretty to him.

"Hey bro," Luigi said, quickly swallowing the food in his mouth, "Why do you think-a that-a girl is hiding her ears?" His voice was low as to not alert her presence, but enough for Mario to hear.

"Huh?" Mario stuttered a bit, snapping out of his mind. "What did-a you say, I didn't quite catch it."

"Why do you think-a that girl is…" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as both of them were shoved out of the way by a speeding yellow blur heading straight for the mysterious girl. As Luigi hit the ground screaming, his bag of fruit spilled everywhere onto the streets. Mario however only stumbled, and his eyes shot to the girl Luigi was talking about.

"Look out! Behind you!" He yelled, causing the girl to turn around, looking behind her with curious purple eyes. She was too slow to notice the yellow blur, who turned out to be a young, blond haired girl wearing only a brown jacket, black tights, and a bow in her hair. In the blink of an eye, she reached into the silver haired girl's pocket, pulled something out, and sped of down the street. Both Mario and the mysterious girl reached into their pockets, finding out that they had been robbed.

"My insignia!"

"The Coin's!"

The girl started running after the thief, while Mario moved to his brother to help him up.

"Luigi get up!" He said as he grabbed his younger brother from under his arms and hoisted him up to his feet. "Somebody just-a stole our money, common!" It didn't take much more to get his brother on board, as his usual goofy face went serious.

"Oh, she is-a going down" Luigi stumbled into a run in the direction of the two women with great speed, and Mario quickly did the same.

* * *

The silver haired girl was chasing after the yellow haired thief with super human speed without bumping into a single person along the way. Every turn the pick pocketer made, she did the same. It wasn't until she had followed the robber into an alley way did she stop.

"You there!" The mysterious girl addressed the bandit with authority and grace. "I demand that you return my insignia this very moment." While the kittenish girl looked towards a dead end in the form of a massive wall, she turned to face her target with a smirk reveling a large canine tooth.

"Sorry miss, I'm afraid I can't give this back, but I'm felling nice today, so here's something for the trouble." She reached into a brown sack hooked to her waist, and pulled out a silver coin, and tossed it to the mysterious girl who caught it instinctively.

"What? That insignia was priceless!" she said with a mixture frustration and desperation.

"Not where I am going it isn't." her smirk grew into a mischievous smile. "Ciao!" The bandit then leapt up from one wall to another, wall-jumping her way up to the roof tops leaving the silver haired girl in the alley way.

She looked up with defeat, as there was no way for her to scale up the thirty-foot wall. She began to turn around when she saw two men in strange clothing running at the wall, one in red, one in green.

"Um, who are you?" her question was never answered, as the two dashed right past her. It was only when they were a few feet in front of the wall when they broke out of their sprint. The green man jumped up onto the red man's shoulders, and the two jumped up, attempting to summit the great wall in front of them. To their credit, they made it up fairly high, before they ran into the wall face first, inches from the top. The girl cringed, as the red man feel from the wall, while the green one slid down it before hitting the ground and falling onto his back.

"Oh man, that-a didn't work at all." The red man spoke with a funny accent as his eyes danced in a daze. Now that he was on the ground, she could get a good look at him. He was a short man with a slight chub all over his body, dancing a fine line between safe and unhealthy. He had deep blue eyes with a large nose and a perfect black mustache underneath it is hiding most of his mouth when he wasn't talking. His outfit was something out of this world. He wore red shirt with strange blue pants that looped over his shoulders. He wore white gloves, shiny brown shoes, a belt with metallic objects attached to it, and a red hat with a strange symbol on it that looked like two tents pitched right next to each other.

He had a close resemblance to the green man, with the only physical differences being that he was taller, thinner, and had a different style of mustache. The only other difference the green man had was the symbol on his hat, which looked like two lines meeting each other near the bottom left corner.

"Who are you?" she asked, curiously looking down on him.

"It's-a me! A Mario!" he spoke with a dizziness in his voice, she helped him up slowly rise to his feet, as he clearly wasn't in his best state. He shook his head, before responding, "Thank you, I thought-a we could've made-a that jump." When his eyes focused in on her as he regained his senses, and he immediately changed his demeanor. "Wait a minute, you're that-a girl that was just robbed!"

His answer startled her, not because of what he said, but because she also remembered who he was. "You're the person that tried to warn me."

"Yes, I saw that yellow haired girl running towards you, I didn't know what she would-a do, but I figured that it wouldn't be good because-a she pushed me and-a my bro out of-a the way." He then turned to face the green man, who was lying on the ground moaning, as a bump was forming on his head.

"Hey Luigi, you ok?" His brother didn't respond, all he did was shake slightly. "Luigi?" he tried again, this time tugging at his mustache, but with similar results.

"You're not pulling hard enough tubby" A new voice startled Mario, and when he turned around to see who made the nose, he was more shocked than he had been in a long time. In front of him was a cat, not a humanoid one, just a regular looking cat. Except for the fact that it was floating in the air and was caring a purse with a matching shade of purple as the girl's eyes. Mario yelped, swirling his arms as he fell to the ground.

"W-Who are-a you?" The hits just kept on coming. Every moment he felt like he had a solid grip on the situation, and understood everything about the world he was in, some curve ball would come out of nowhere and cause hysteria.

"Why I'm Puck! Pleased to make your acquaintance mister mustachio!" His response didn't help, and it put Mario more on edge if anything. "Man, you look like you have never seen a spirit before."

"Spirit?" Mario tried to keep his cool, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to so. "I didn't think spirits existed."

"Well they sure do, otherwise I wouldn't be here." The floating cat appeared to be enjoying himself, when he began to float in the direction of Luigi. He grabbed his mustache and pulled hard, stretching it out as if it were elastic. "Hey greenie! Wake up!" When Puck let go, the hair snapped back into place, bringing Luigi back into reality.

"Yowch!" Luigi flew into a blind rage, "How many times do I-a have to tell you not to a pull on-a my mustache Mario! It's-a sensitive!"

"It-a wasn't me bro," He threw up his hands pleading innocence, "It-a was the flying cat!"

"What? Cat's don't-a fl-y." Luigi's voice halted once he saw Puck, and he sat staring at the floating feline with a slight twitch to him.

"Man, your friend sure is strange." The break of the silence subsequently broke Luigi, and he went into hysteria once again.

"Mama Mia!" he yelled, leaping up to his feet as if he was jumping out of his skin. "There's a flying cat attacking me!"

"What do you mean? I barely even touched you." Puck enjoyed toying with Mario's brother more than himself, as the reactions from the green man was much more energetic. I wasn't until the girl spoke when he stopped his mischief.

"Puck, I think we should get moving, I need to retrieve my insignia." Mario was helping his brother cool off, as the spirit turned his attention to the girl.

"Well you're the one who decided to stick around and talk with these guys." He put his hands up like he was shrugging, all the while the silver haired girl grew impatient.

"Well it's not every day that two strange men jump face first into a brick wall!" The change in her attitude was abrupt and caught the brothers off guard, as she looked responsible, yet acted childish, and the two quickly stated bickering.

"Didn't she say something of hers was stolen?" Luigi asked with curiosity, as if puzzle pieces began to fall into place in his mind. Mario nodded, and he stood up to confront the two who were currently arguing.

"Hey, you said that-a someone stole something from you," Puck and the mysterious girl turned to face Mario, "Because-a blond-haired girl stole something from us too."

"Yeah," Luigi added, rising up to his feet. "She stole-a brown bag of silver coins."

The girl looked into her hand with held the silver coin she got from the thief, and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together. "Oh, does that mean this coin belongs to you?" She handed it over, letting the brothers get a good look at it.

"Yes!" Luigi said with excitement, "It looked-a just like that! Where did you get it?"

"The bandit that stole it gave it to me, as 'compensation' for my insignia!" She looked frustrated, clearly, what was stolen from her was very important to her.

"But there were twenty in the bag, what-a happened to the rest of them?" Mario inquired putting his hand on his chin.

"Well she kept them, otherwise we would have more than the one." Puck threw in, but quickly turned to face the girl "I think it's about time we got looking." The girl nodded, and they two turned to exit the alley way.

"Hey, where are you going?" Luigi asked with curiosity and worry.

"We're going to retrieve what was stolen from us, don't worry, I'm sure that we can also get your money back." Puck waved and continued floating towards the street opening. Mario and Luigi looked at each other and nodded.

"Well help-a too!" Mario exclaimed in a heroic voice.

"Pardon?" The girl asked, confused as to what Mario meant.

"We can-a help you find-a the thief," Luigi said, with a slightly goofier tone in his voice than his brothers, "If that-a insignia was so important to you, then we can-a help get it-a back."

"Don't forget, we also want to find her." Mario stated, adding logic to their reasoning, "So we might as-a well help you look."

"And two heads are-a better than one."

The two brothers went off of each other's words like they could read the others mind, as if their minds were in perfect unison. Puck and the girl looked at each other, until she turned towards the two and simply said, "Alright, I guess you can help."

"Alrighty!" Mario said, extending out his right hand openly at the mysterious girl, "Super Mario, at-a your service." Luigi quickly did the same.

"Luigi, pleasure to meet you, uh," his mind searched for a name to connect with her face but failed to come up with one. It took a second before she answered his question, but she said it as if she was coming up with a name on the spot.

"Satella" she said, and although Luigi were none the wiser, Mario overheard Puck say, "Of all the things you could have said." Luigi then butted in with a stupid grin on his face before he could say anything,.

"Nice to-a meet you Satella." Luigi's hand extended, which she shook half-heartedly. He was pleased, but Mario was left confused and concerned.

* * *

As they roamed around the streets, the small group searched high and low for anyone fitting the description of a young, kittenish, blond haired girl with large canine teeth. They traveled along long open streets, looking and asking around, but everyone was either uninterested in helping, or didn't recognize her. It wasn't until Mario dragged his brother out of a river, because of some large dude with a bad attitude knocked him in there, did they realize that they were going nowhere.

"Mama Mia," Luigi said glumly, ringing out his soaking wet hat, "At-a this rate the moon will be in the sky and-a we still won't have found so much as a clue as to where that-a theif is." He let out a heavy sigh, before he continued moping. "Why does this city have to be-a so big."

Mario was shaking out his gloves when he responded. "I don't know Luigi, but it's not-a like we have anything better to do." He then turned to his left, where a large stone bridge connected one half of the city with the other separated by a river. Underneath it, Satella was holding her by her chest, as if she was praying, as small blue and green lights danced around her. The whole scene was ethereal, and Mario couldn't help being curious. "What's-a she doing?" he said, looking at the girl.

"She is communicating with lesser spirits." Puck was floating above Luigi's head, and he startled him of them when he announced his presence. "They're beings that are prior to becoming true spirit's, have begun to show intelligence." Both of the brothers looked at Satella, assuming that magic is an important element to this world.

"Say, what exactly is-a spirit?" Mario asked, as he slid his damp gloves on.

"Well," Puck's voice began to sound like that of a college professor with years of experience on his hands, "Spirits are powerful beings with magical powers, most of whom live in a physical form similar to things like people or animals."

"Wow!" Luigi said, sounding quite impressed. "Does that-a mean that only spirits have magical powers?"

"No, almost anyone can use magic, it's just that spirit magic is more powerful than that of most humans. Which is why some people team up with them in order to pull off higher level spells." Luigi eyes light up, and Mario could tell exactly what was going through his brothers' mind.

"You're-a wondering what spells you could perform, aren't you?" Luigi simply nodded, as his mind was preoccupied with imagining himself as a powerful wizard with a long purple cape, controlling the elements.

"Everyone has an element that they can control, I could tell you what yours is, by checking your Mana if you want."

Luigi's body moved faster than his mouth did, and he jumped up to his feet before responding, "That-a would be great!" Puck floated over towards Luigi and closed his eyes and placed his paw on his forehead. A bright light began to shine from their connection point, with similar color's as the lesser spirits. Once Puck lifted his hand, all the light disappeared, and his eyes popped open.

"Man, you sure are a strange one." His response didn't please the green plumber, who quickly took offence to his comment.

"What's that-a supposed to mean?" He said, angry and confused.

"Well, most people have Mana types of one of six elements, air, earth, fire, water, yin, and yang, but you control something different." Both Luigi and Mario looked confused, as they didn't understand where Puck was going with this. "But you have the control over thunder and electricity, which is normally something only wind class spirits can manipulate. You wouldn't happen to have been blessed by a great spirit, have you?"

"Not-a exactly." Both Luigi and his brother knew exactly why he had that ability. Luigi was gifted the powers of the Lord of Thunder on an old adventure in the Bean Bean Kingdom, but neither of them knew if it was a good idea to share that given the current situation. Thankfully Satella, who had just finished talking to the lesser spirits, effectively ended the conversation when she approached them.

"I have found out the location of the thief." Her words were direct, decisive, and determined, "She has just entered a place called the 'loot cellar', and I suspect that she is going to try and sell my amulet."

"Phew," Luigi wiped the sweat off of his head, thinking about the size of the bullet bill he just dodged. "We should-a get moving then." Mario, who had been sitting on the ground at that point, rose up to his feet.

"Alrighty, which-a way is this loot cellar Satella?" Instad of answering his question, she turned and started walking towards a pathway leading back up to the city streets.

"It's this way, follow me." The brothers began to chase after the girl, as if she was following an imaginary map.

They silently traversed through the same stall-filled streets that they had already check several times over, only everything was quieter due to the day slowly coming to an end. It didn't take long before they found themselves in a, less safe part of town, the slums to be more specific. The brothers quickly became nervous, as it was the type of place that their heroic reputation usually caused conflict. The whole scene was depressing, but Satella was undeterred, as if she felt no difference being here than anywhere else. Mario tried his best focus on the road ahead, and not on the less fortunate people that hugged the run-down buildings, but he couldn't help but feel guilty on the inside. Luigi's eyes were nervously darting towards every person with a less then approachable appearance.

They walked up to a small bridge, that was over a small stream of water that looked as if it flowed into the large river in the main streets. There was a great view of the entire city from that one position, as everything looked as if it was built on a great hill. The farther up the hill you looked, the larger and grander the buildings got. When you got to the top, a large castle stood tall, looking down upon the rest of the world as the golden sun set behind it. Meanwhile, they were standing in a place that looked deprived of wealth of any kind, and could easily be mistaken as a ghost town if it weren't for all the people there.

Puck, who had been popping in and out of nowhere ever since they meet him, let out a big yawn as he sat on Satella's shoulders.

"Is it time?" her voice was calm, and different from her usual self.

"No, but I overworked myself today, so I need to rest a bit early." Mario and Luigi were confused as to what he meant.

She lifted Puck off of her shoulders, and held him in her hands, "It's alright, I should be fine until tomorrow."

"Alright, just remember to call me if anything bad happens." Satella only smiled, as she pressed his head onto a green crystal hanging from her neck. Puck and the gem glowed green, until he disappeared into the crystal. It was Luigi who asked what both of them were thinking.

"What-a just happened?" He said startled, as he still didn't know everything there is about spirits aside from a simple dictionary definition of them.

"Puck can only be in physical form for a limited time, as he is a spirit and needs his rest." They nodded in response. "Let's get moving, the loot cellar is not far from here." Her tone quickly reverted back to the stern one they were used to, but it was nice to know that she had a soft side. Before they continued walking, Luigi said something that caught the others off guard.

"Hey Satella, why do-a you cover up your ears?" Mario looked at his brother, wondering where the question came from. While Satella was shocked, and her hand moved instinctively towards her hears, noticing that her hair wasn't covering her elf-like ears.

Noticing that his question might have touched a delicate subject, Luigi tried his best to fix the situation. "I only ask because-a they're really pretty, and you keep on covering them up."

Satella face went from shocked to suppressed, and her face went red like a cherry. "You think my ears are, pretty?" her voice skipped a bit, as if it were tripping over itself.

"Well, yes" Luigi said worriedly, "did I-a say something wrong?"

She turned away from them, "No, you didn't say anything wrong at all." And she started walking again, leaving the brothers behind.

"I don't-a know what I did, all I did was ask a question." Luigi spoke with guilt when talking to his brother.

"I don't think it's-a what you asked, but why you asked." Mario started walking after her and Luigi, after becoming lost in thought, scuttered after the two.

They continued on in silence, but it didn't take long before they came across the building they were looking for. It was a large stone tavern, built like something you would see in an old western film. The door was large and looked stiff, and the windows were dusty and dim. The image was screaming 'go away! You don't belong here!' especially now that they day had turned to dusk. Mario started walking up to the door when he was verbally stopped by Satella.

"Wait, we don't know who or what is in there, for all we know, this could be a trap."

"Well, then what should-a we do?" He replied, having full confidence that he could handle any danger that could be thrown his way.

"You should wait out here, if anything comes up, I will inform you promptly." Mario looked at Luigi who appeared a little nervous. He didn't want to enter the creepy building, and if he didn't have to, he wouldn't.

"Ok, just-a be sure to let us-a know if anything happens. We don't-a want anyone to get hurt." She nodded and began to enter the bar. It was only for a second, but Mario caught a smile coming from the silver haired girl, before she disappeared into the loot cellar.

* * *

The surrounding area grew increasingly dark, as the sun finally set over the horizon. Luigi reached into his tool belt and pulled out a pocket flashlight. "Do you-a think Satella will be ok?" showing concern for the girl who just entered the building.

"Don't-a worry, I'm-a sure she will be able to-a defend herself. She can probably use magic of-a some kind too." Mario said, lying his head back on a rock with closed eyes.

Luigi didn't seem convinced, and he looked at the bar curiously. "I still-a think we should go in and check on her." But despite his wish, they still didn't enter, that is until a loud thud came from the inside of the bar, similar to that of a person hitting the floor.

"Did-a you hear that?" Mario rose to his feet as his brother pointed his flashlight at the wooden door.

"That-a didn't sound good." As his brother approached the door, Luigi inched behind Mario, who pulled out a flashlight of his own.

The door creaked open with a slow and creaky moan, until the hinges reached their limit and stopped the door in its place. A dark room illuminated only by their flashlights stood in front of them.

"Stay close." Mario's eyes were focused, and his voice was stern. Luigi trembled behind him but managed to squeak out an 'ok' before they continued. As they moved across the floor, their lights looked over the walls, bringing a variety of clubs, swords, and other stolen goods into view. The creaking of the floorboards echoed throughout the room and into their ears. The air was stiff, as the stench of something fowl filled their large noses.

Splash. As Mario's shoe stepped in some sort of liquid, both of them aimed their flashlights towards the sound's origin. His foot was standing in a dark sticky liquid, flowing from somewhere off in the dark. The lights followed the trail, until it reached horrifying image. Mario froze up, like a deer caught in headlights, while Luigi started to run backwards, screaming, until he ran into and hugged the wall.

A large, horribly distributed man, with arm the size of mountains and legs strangely small, sat in a pool of his own blood. A large cut along his neck that looked to be the fatal blow, was dripped out blood onto his body, and seeped through his teeth as well. One of his hands was cut clean off, sitting just a few feet from his body. The stench radiating from his body was enough to cause Luigi to throw up all of the food he had eaten earlier that afternoon, staining his overalls.

"Oh my god." Mario look away, speaking as if he was just punched in the gut, making his words barely audible. "Luigi, we need-a to get out of here."

Luigi was petrified and couldn't move a muscle, as if he was a statue. It wasn't until a woman's voice whispered behind Mario, that he took his eyes off of the corpse.

"Well, you found it, didn't you." Mario's eyes went white as he listened to a soft, yet terrifying voice. He turned around just in time to see a metal blade moving through the darkness, come straight for his head. With a backwards leap, he jumped out of the way of danger, and landed on his side next to the only standing table in the room. In a moment of desperation, he quickly aimed his flashlight where he was previously standing.

She was tall, and quite beautiful, with the face and body like that of a Greek goddess. She wore black, skin tight clothes, except for the middle of her body which was left uncomfortably bare. A black and red cape hung around her neck as she eyed down the red Italian, with the look of death in her eyes.

"Nice move," every word she spoke was beautiful, but the curved knife in her hand caused Mario to shiver heavily. "But you can't keep it up for long, and the longer we play, the better it will feel when I finally see your guts spill on the floor." Faster than a bolt of lightning, the voluptuous woman dashed towards Mario, only for her to miss her swing, as he leapt up into the air to avoid her knife. He then came crashing down onto her head, grinding his heels into the woman's face, before hoping off to the side.

His attack only phased her, as she quickly regained her senses, and readied her next move. Unknown to both of them, a speeding hammer that came from the shadows crashed into her side, knocking her into several rows of alcohol lined up on the wall behind the counter. As she fell, the bottles slid down the broken shelves until they fell off and broke onto the floor and the murderous girl's head.

Mario moved his light to see his brother wielding a sturdy hammer larger than his head with a vengeful look on his face. "Don't-a mess with-a my bro!" The line may have been cheesy, but it brought a smile to Mario's face in the stressful situation.

"Luigi!" He ran over to his brother, causing his flashlight to wave around as he moved. "Nice Shot!" A smile grew on Luigi's face, and he started to blush as he scratched the back of his head. "We should-a get out of here, and inform-a the authorities!" His brother nodded, as he pocketed his massive mallet behind him, and ran for the door.

They were only a few steps away from the entrance, when a shadowy figure dropped from above in front of the door. She was cut in several places and was bleeding from her scalp. Her smile was gone, and her eyes could have pierced steel. Mario skidded to a stop, but Luigi kept sliding towards her. Her movements here too fast to follow, but she caused the green Italian to fly backwards, breaking through the bar stand and land in a pile of broken glass where the woman was sitting moments ago.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled for his brother with desperation. His call wasn't answered however, as a large cut through his brother's gut started to open up, spilling out a deep red liquid. His left hand reached for it, and his glove changed to a bright pink. As Luigi struggled to lift his head, all he managed to do was point with his bloody hand behind his brother, where the woman was, before going limp and lifeless.

His eyes watered, and his fists clenched as he stared down the witch who had just killed his only living relative, his brother. A fire started burning inside of him, and his eyelids began to twitch.

"Don't be so angry, all I did was repay a favor that he gave to me in the form of a hammer to the chest." She was bent over slightly, due to a broken rib, but smiled on. "Your friend should have thought twice before attacking me. Clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Every muscle in his body tightened as he looked at the woman with vengeance. "You, you killed-a my bro. You killed-a my brother you witch!" he dashed towards her at super human speeds. He let go of his flashlight which fell onto the floor, and landed a direct punch to her face, knocking her back a small bit. Her right hand still held a knife, and it swung directly at his gut. He dodged it, stepping back a bit before regaining his stance. She dove in for another swing, this time aiming for his head. Mario leaned back instinctively, avoiding another fatal blow. When her arms at her sides, he took the opportunity to kick her in the stomach, causing her to fly back into the sturdy door. As she stood up, he moved into a fighting stance reading himself.

"I've got to say, you were the best opponent I have had the pleasure of killing in a long time." Her smile seamed victorious, but Mario wasn't in the mood for it.

"What-a do you mean, I'm-a still standing."

"Well everyone has a special trick, you just missed mine." Her words made him loosen up, and it only then did he notice the strange feeling from his gut. It felt hot, like it was on fire, but when he reached down to feel where the pain was, he felt a cold liquid dampen his overalls. He looked down at his belly, and with the aid of the light on the floor, he could see a cut in his overalls, with the area below it turning slowly from blue to purple, as his blood mixed in with the fabrics that made up his iconic outfit.

She had a second knife, and he tried to verbalize her deadly weapon, but was stopped due to a throat filled with blood. His body felt cold, and his legs went limp. He fell onto the floor with a hefty thud, sending searing pain through the rest of his body. His neck was stiff, locking his gaze to the celling, until she waltzed into his vision.

"There is one thing I would like to ask of you. If you could be so kind as to remember my name into your pitiful afterlife, then I would be gratefully honored" His teeth grinded together, and if it weren't for his flooded throat, he would have spoken words he had never dreamt of saying to somebody. She leaned in next to his ear, when she said "Elsa." Before moving away and out of sight.

Mario felt scared, as he slowly lost control of his senses one by one. He couldn't hear anything going on around him, and the stench of death that filled the room dissipated. The taste in his mouth went form a salty, sticky, unpleasant mess, to nothing at all, and the stinging pain by his belly, and his hands went numb. The last thing he saw was the mangled corpse of his brother, bent over in a pile of glass and broken wood, with his blood and internals spilling out onto his legs and staining the floor.

The words 'I will save you, I promise.' Echoed throughout his mind, as he gave himself up to the never-ending darkness.


	3. Chapter 3: Let's-a try that again

Chapter 3: Let's-a try that again.

Time slowed down to a stop, and the world was engulfed into an endless black. Mario's mind was in limbo, not alive, but not dead, and for a while, he felt nothing. His body was floating around as if he was in space, and it seemed like he was doomed to an eternity of drifting endlessly in the dark. That was, until a dark floating hand slowly began moving towards like a thick liquid. Its intentions were unclear, until it reached him. The dark hand grabbed him out of the darkness, with a feeling could only be described as unpleasant. In a matter of seconds, the feeling went away, and his senses started to return to him. A great light filled his body, and time started up again. He could feel his heart beat, and air filled his lungs. He opened his eyes, and the world began again.

At first, everything was blurry, and all sound was muffled. After blinking a couple times, his vision stabilized. Mario was in front of the fruit stand, and not at the loot cellar. He looked down, and there was no cut on his belly, or no blood stains on his pants. The sun was high in the sky, warming the area with a pleasant glow. The wind brushed against his cheeks and filled his nose with the aroma of a medieval city street. At first, he thought he had survived the encounter by some miracle, but the sound of someone calling his name pulled him out of his trance.

"Hey Mario, could you-a show him the coin?" It wasn't the green haired man that said it, nor was its Puck or Satella. Mario looked to his side and saw his brother looking at him, with full eyes and in perfect health.

"Lu-Luigi?" He wanted to believe it was him, but the dark images of his brother's dead body told him otherwise.

When Luigi saw his brothers face, his tone then shifted to one of worry. "Are you ok? You look just-a like King Boo." Mario started shaking as he reached out for him.

"l-l-Luigi,-y-y-yo-." He failed to speak coherently, making his brother even more nervous.

"What's-a wrong?" Luigi tried approaching him, but Mario fell into his brothers' arms crying. Luigi was taken back by his older brother doing something so uncharacteristic of him. Mario however cried heavily, with an overwhelming since of joy filling his sobs.

By some strange, insane miracle, he had died and came back to life. The issue wasn't that coming back to life part, as he had experienced the effects of a one-up mushroom before, but how he did it. A one-up mushroom was an extremely rare power-up, that once it entered the mouth of a person killed by something other than old age, they would be resurrected on the spot. The recipient would have no clue as to what happened while they were dead, or what killed them in the first place, relying on others to fill them in while they were in the afterlife. What Mario just went through was entirely different. He had died and was resurrected to a point earlier that day with perfect memories as to what killed him, while others didn't.

It was like a sadistic version of time travel. Returning by death to a point in the past. Coming to this conclusion, other things popped into his head. Who gave him this power, was it that black hand or was it that strange mushroom bowser ate? If it was, why could he remember the past events, but his brother couldn't? If Luigi is alive, does that mean that the man who was killed in the loot cellar is still alive?

The last one stuck with him, because if the answer to that question was yes, then he had to stop him from being murdered, or at the very least, warn him about Elsa, about the girl that murdered him and his brother, and Satella. He had completely forgotten all about her, but she was most likely a victim as well. Her Insignia, something he didn't even know what looked like, was probably already stolen. Tracking her would be difficult, and there was almost no way to stop her from reaching the cellar because she can talk to lesser spirits. Although, could he even trust her? Puck did let it slip that Satella was not her actual name, and if she lied about that, what else could she be hiding?

No, he couldn't just let somebody die, even if Satella lied to him, it wasn't enough of a reason to not help her. All he would need to do was get to the cellar before Elsa did, warn the man about her, retrieve the stolen insignia, and return it to Satella before anyone was killed. All he needed to do now was figure out how to get to the loot cellar from where he was.

The sound of Luigi speaking his name brought Mario out of his mind, and back into reality, realizing that he was still clinging onto his brothers' shoulder with puffy eyes and a stuffy nose.

"Mario, are you ok?" Luigi was concerned, evident by his voice. He let go of his brother and wiped his eyes before gaining the composure needed to talk.

"I'm-a sorry, something was on-a my mind, and I got-a little carried away." Even though he wasn't a hundred percent honest, Mario knew full well that if he told his brother the truth, it would stress him out to no end.

"It-a must have been something big, because I've never seen you cry like-a that before."

"Heh, It-a was, but I wouldn't-a worry about it" Luigi smiled, and Mario's face lost its red and stuffy look as he calmed down. "Do you want to-a look around some more, I've-a lost-a my appetite." Luigi nodded, and the two set off in a different direction, leaving the green haired merchant very confused.

Despite moving at a quick pace, the two only traveled the distance of about five city blocks before they heard somebody call out in the crowd. "Mommy! Mommy where are you!" A small little girl in a yellow dress who couldn't have been more than eight years old, was looking around the endless crowd, tears forming around her face. Both Mario and Luigi couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"She must have lost-a her mother in-a the crowd" Mario spoke to his brother with a regained since of composure, before he started walking to her. "Hello there," The girl was startled by Mario, who was now kneeling in front of her. "Are you-a lost? I can-a help you if you are." He was trying to sound as friendly as he could, but tears started rolling down her face as all she saw was a strange and scary looking man try and talk to her.

Luigi quickly took action and knocked his brother out of the way. At first, he was thrown off by his brothers' aggressive maneuver, but he quickly realized why his younger brother did so. Luigi always had a knack for cheering up kids, and even by looking at him, the girl seamed to calm down a bit.

"Hello-a there! My name's-a Luigi, would you like to-a play a game with me?" His voice was calming, yet playful, and the girl slowly nodded in response to his question. "Ok, let's-a play the face game. All you have to do is make a more silly face than your opponent." He took his left hand and squeezed his clown like nose with his thumb and pointer finger. "Like-a this." His voice became higher and stuffer, causing the little girl to giggle, before sticking her tongue out at him. Luigi laughed a little, and took his mustache and pulled it far apart, before letting it snap back into place with a springy motion. The girl giggled some more, and in response to him, pulled her ears up, mimicking the ears an elf would have, and danced in a circle.

Mario sat and watched his brother bring a smile to the girls face and couldn't help but feel a bit of pride. They were so caught up in the moment, neither of them saw the red haired man in a white coat staring at them from afar.

* * *

Mario and Luigi were traversing the streets of the strange new world once again, but this time, a small child was clinging onto Luigi's hands as they searched for her mother. She asked a lot of questions, like why they had such strange clothes? What the symbol on their hats were, and if she could wear one. Mario agreed by putting his hat on her small head, covering up face when she wasn't holding it up. They somehow made their way back to the stalls where they had bought the apples in a previous life. When they reached that stalls however, the little girl took off, dropping Mario's hat onto the ground.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She let go of Luigi's hand and ran right into a woman's arms, who was standing in front of the fruit shop talking to the green haired man.

"Oh my god, sweetie I've been looking everywhere for you! Where did you go?" The mothers voice was relieved and joyful. When Mario got close enough, he noticed that she was the same woman who he talked to when he first came into this world. She was probably looking for her child at the time, which explained why she didn't want to spend time talking to him.

"I don't know. I was with you, and then I was not with you. I tried looking for you, but I couldn't find you, and I got really scared" She then turned and pointed towards the twin brothers with a smile. "Then the green guy and I played a game, and then we looked for you again, and then we found you!" Luigi blushed when the girl's mother looked at him, and Mario for a moment longer, as if she was trying to remember him from somewhere, before thanking them.

When the father went to thank the two, he quickly recognized them. "Hey, you two tried buying something from my shop earlier."

"Yes-a we were, but-a something was on-a my mind that I wanted to take care of first." Mario spoke first, rubbing the back of his head feeling embarrassed.

"Well I can't thank you two enough for finding my daughter, if there is anything you need help with, just let me know." After hearing this, a lightbulb went off inside of Mario's head.

"Say, we are-a trying to find place called the 'loot cellar', do you happen to know the way to it?" Luigi, not knowing what the loot cellar was, or how Mario came to know about it, was curious as to why his brother was asking him about it, but never spoke up about it.

"The loot cellar, well I don't know the exact location, but I can point you in the right direction." His voice was hesitant, as he most likely knows about how it is a place filled with stolen goods and is curious about Mario's intentions going there.

"That-a would be great!" Mario turned to his brother who looked confused, He would need to come up with a reason for why they had to go there. He did remember that Luigi was hungry, and he would probably be more flexible on a full stomach. "Oh, one-a more thing. Could-a we have a bag of apples, my bro is-a bit hungry."

The man smiled and shot them a thumbs up before picking up a large brown bag. "Way ahead of ya red!"

* * *

After the man handed the two the bag of apples, he used a map to trace a path to the slums, where all they would have to do is wonder around a bit before reaching their destination. They said their goodbye's and made their way to the slums. Along the way, Mario told Luigi that he had seen a sign on a bulletin board saying somebody is missing a badge called an insignia, and that they were offering a reward in the form of local cash to anyone who finds and returns it, something they didn't have at the time. He said that he also overheard a group of shady individuals talking about how somebody is going to be selling an insignia for a hefty price at a place called the loot cellar. The reason behind going is that by getting the insignia, they would both be helping someone out, and they would get money in the process. The lie was very fragile, and Luigi would find out about it as soon as they return the stolen item back to Satella, but it was the best thing he could come up with at the time and current Luigi was none the wiser. Once they got to the slums, it didn't take long for Mario to start recognizing land marks, and it was only a matter of time before they were standing in front of the large stone building where they had died in a past life.

"Mario, are you-a sure this is the place?" Luigi spoke with a perfectly reasonable nervousness.

Technically, he hasn't been here before, but if his memory had served him right, then they were exactly where they need to be. "Well, there is-a only one way to find out." Mario walked up to the door and knocked on it the same way he did at Peach's castle. At first nobody came to open the door, but just as he was about to try again, the door swung open, with a very large man behind it.

"What are you trying to do? Play a song on my door." The large man had gravelly voice, and a dark skin tone. He was made of pure muscle, with his unflexed biceps the size of Mario's head. He had no hair on his head, aside from long and white wispy eyebrows, with a description that also applied to his chest hair. All he had on was a black jacket, torn at the edges and sleeveless, and pants held up with a belt made of cloth. There was no mistaking it. He was the living version of the corpse they saw last time they were here.

Mario tried to answer, but the hulking beast grabbed him by the straps in his overalls and yelled into his face. "What's with you, I've never seen you before, so why did you come here!?" The shear force in his voice was enough to blow his cap of into Luigi's trembling hands.

"My, name is-a Mario, and I've-a come to-a do some business. Could you please let-a me down" Mario yelped as dropped to the ground, and the man walked back through the door, but didn't close it behind him.

"Mario, are you ok?" Luigi ran up to his brother and lifted him off of the ground. "Maybe we should-a just leave."

"No, it's-a fine." He dusted himself of and placed his hat back on his head. Mario went into the large building first, and Luigi followed after him. The room was a lot more organized then what it did when they arrived previously, as all the tables and chairs were upright and evenly spaced out on the floor, and everything on the walls was straight. The man must have put up a big fight when fighting Elsa, that or he just trashed the place before he was murdered. Even though there was no immediate danger, Mario couldn't help but feel on edge.

The man was sitting at one of the round tables, with several shot glasses filled up to the brim with a wine like beverage. The two sat across form him, as he downed his first shot in one go.

"Well, you've already interrupted my drinking time, so I hope you have a good reason for coming here."

Mario led the negotiation, as Luigi was never good with these sorts of things. "We've come to-a bargain for an item that is going to-a come into your possession."

"That's a gutsy thing to say, it's a good thing you've got a big one of those." His remark caught him guard, and Mario subconsciously placed his hands on his larger than normal belly. "What makes you so sure that I will have what you are looking for?"

Keeping his cool, Mario responded calmly. "Well I heard that-a blond haired girl with large canine is bringing an insignia here to be sold off."

"Hmm, well I would be lying if I said you were wrong, but what do you plan on doing when she gets here."

"I'm-a going to give her a counter offer." He shuffled around in his pocket before pulling out the large golden coin with a Yoshi inscribed into it. He handed it off to the man, whose eyes shot open after taking a good look at it.

"You're going to use this in exchange? An insignia is nowhere near as valuable as this." The two brothers looked at each other in confusion, as what he was holding was as common as field grass in the Mushroom Kingdom. "This would be come to at least thirty, no forty blessed gold coins." Mario didn't know how much a blessed gold coin is worth, but he felt as though he had been ripped off by the amount the apple man gave him when he exchanged it before.

"Um, excuse me." Luigi was squeamish when speaking, but not to the point that he stuttered. "Exactly how much is-a blessed gold coin?"

The large man looked at him as if he had three heads, but went on speaking as normal. "The lowest form of currency in Lugunica is a copper coin, one hundred of those is equivalent to the value of a silver coin. One hundred silver coins is a gold coin, and a blessed gold coin with worth two gold coins." Suddenly, the money issue they thought they had just disappeared into thin air. "Why do you want this insignia so bad? It's value wouldn't even reach half of what you got."

"Well," Mario thought for a moment before answering. "Because it's-a the right thing to do." The large man's eyes widened, and he almost chocked on one of his shots that he had been downing periodically. "That badge belongs to somebody else, and if it-a means I have to a give up a large sum of money to do the right thing, then I will-a use a hundred blessed gold coins if I-a have to." His voice was determined, and dignified, and came from a place of heart.

"I see." He looked down into his next drink, letting Mario's words sink deep into his mind, until knocking started coming from the door. "It looks like she's finally here." The man sat up from his chair that looked too small for his gigantic body, and moved to the door, sliding the coin back to Mario. Instead of opening it right away, he stood at the edge and said started speaking something cryptic.

"To the giant rats?"

"We give poison." A small female voice responded, most likely the thief they were looking for.

"To the great white whale?"

"We lend a fishing hook."

"To our most honorable great dragon?"

"We say burn in hell!"

"Password accepted." The words that were spoken by the two were foreign to the Mario brothers. Great white whale, the honorable great dragon? Perhaps they were characters in fairytales, or beings of immense strength, but neither of them knew for sure.

The door opened up, and the young blond-haired thief entered the room.

"Hey Rom, sorry I took so long, this girl was really persistent, and it took me a while to shake em." She spoke with the large man whose name was Rom as if they were related, despite looking as different as an elephant and a tooth pick. It was then when she noticed the two other men in the building.

"Who are these two." She said pointing at two brothers.

"They're here to make you a deal, and a mighty good one if I say so myself." Rom turned to face Mario, who was also being stared down by the girl. His stomach felt heavy, and he couldn't help but gulp at the situation at hand. Super Mario was about to make a deal with two criminals.


	4. Chapter 4: Bar house brawl

Chapter 4: Bar house brawl.

"I've never seen a coin this big my whole life!" The young girl, who revealed her name to be Felt, was struggling to hold the coin in her considerably smaller hands. Mario wanted to get the deal over with as quickly as possible, or at least before Elsa showed up, but he was content with having a drink if it meant not looking suspicious. Everyone but Rom had sat down at the table, when he carried three glasses over to his guests.

"A glass of milk for the lady," Rom said, as he slid a small glass across the table without spilling a drop, "Water for Red, and… a glass of orange juice for greenie." Luigi's face lit up like that of a child getting an ice cream cone, as he began to slurp up his drink. Felt set aside the coin and took a swig of her milk, but froze soon after.

"You watered down my milk didn't you!" she yelled at Rom fiercely.

"wa-? I try to do something nice for you and this is the thanks I get!? You should be thankful that I gave you that drink in the first place!"

Luigi leaned over to his brother and whispered into his ears. "They sure-a do seem to be close." His comment was reasonable, as their bickering was not that different from what the brothers would do to get on the other's nerves.

"Maybe Rom is-a her uncle or something. That or they've-a just known each other for-a long time." Mario then leaned away from Luigi and spoke in his normal volume "Felt, now that-a you've seen our offer, can we see the insignia?"

"hm, oh right." Felt put on a smile, as she reached into her bra to pull out a small triangular medallion, easily disturbing the two. "So, is the thing you're looking for."

"Well if that is-a the insignia, then yes." Luigi said in a rushed fashion, and although he tried being serious, his orange mustache didn't help much. "You can have that-a coin, and we can have that-a badge."

"Hold your horse's green bean, I'm not ready just yet." Felt placed held her hands off to her sides.

It was Rom who spoke next, "I don't know what you are waiting for, you have a lot to gain by making this deal."

"Well just because I'm getting a pretty price for my work, doesn't mean I can't try to sweeten the deal." Felt said mischievously.

"What-a do you mean?" Luigi asked, confused.

"Well, you two aren't not the only ones who want this, so we'll just have to wait and see her offer, and I'll take the better of the two." Mario froze, if the person who she intended on making the deal with is who he thought she was.

"She does know where to be, correct?" Rom said, and Felt responded with a nod.

"I told her to be here at sundown," everyone looked at windows and saw a deep sunset orange fill the room. At the same time, a light knock came from the door, moving their gaze once again. "That must be her, I'll go check."

As Felt ran off to the door Rom went behind the bar stand where he began to rummage through an assortment of things.

"So," Luigi began, facing the direction of Rom. "Do you and Felt have a long history together or something?"

He didn't bother looking up when he answered his question. "I wouldn't say I have a long history with her, but she has been with me longer then she can remember." He stood up from behind the counter, dawning a large wooden club. Neither of the brothers said anything about it. "Before we get started, I do want to thank you. If she ends up taking you up on your offer, then she will be well off for a long time."

Neither Luigi nor Mario could say anything, as Felt interrupted the two before they could even think of a response. "What are you two muttering to yourselves? It's creepy, so cut it out!" three heads turned to face Felt, and the person who she had brought in. Luigi was caught off guard and couldn't help but blush at the sight of the voluptuous woman standing in front of him. Mario looked on in a silent terror, as the person who was standing at Felt's side was none other than Elsa.

"I'm Elsa, please to meet you." Her voice was a melodic symphony and was devoid of the dark intentions that was present before. After a bit of explaining, Rom told her how Mario and Luigi were presenting a counter offer in the form of a large golden coin, and both parties would be bidding on the insignia.

"I didn't know that I would be having some competition, but it turns out luck is on my side, as I was given a little extra by my employer."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Felt stood up joyfully, whereas Mario looked on with a great seriousness, focusing heavily on Elsa's actions. "Well just how much money are we talking, because from what I've heard these two have a lot of cash they're willing to drop."

Elsa didn't delay, as she quickly placed a cloth bag onto the table, which spilled out in front of her. Several gold coins accented with silver markings littered the table top, and it was easy to presume that they were blessed gold coins. "Twenty. That is the amount that my dealer is willing to pay."

"Twenty blessed gold coins is an outrageous amount," Rom said, examining Elsa's offer carefully, "but these two's coin is at least double of what your offering." It took a moment for them to process what happened, but it soon clicked that they had just won the bid.

"Alright-y!" Mario jumped up from his chair and pumped arm into the air victoriously. "We did it Luigi!" They had secured the insignia, and without giving Elsa a reason to go berserk. Luigi was also celebrating, but with less excitement as he didn't know about the threat they had hopefully avoided.

"Well, a deal's a deal, besides, my provider doesn't need to have it in their passion." Her voice without defeat, as she spoke to nobody in particular.

"Really? Then this-a works out for all of us." Said Luigi.

"By the way, may I ask what you are going to do with that badge?"

"Eh? Oh, well sense it's-a not our's, we plan-a return it to its rightful owner."

Elsa's eyes lost its color, as they homed in on Luigi, the one sitting closest to her. "So, you are one of them then."

The events that took place then lasted only a second but was packed to the brim. Felt dashed over from across the table, flipping it in the process, and pinned the green man to the ground. At the same time, Elsa swung her arm, cutting the air with a long metal knife.

"You idiot!" She yelled into Luigi's face furiously, "Do you want to die!?" his face was filled with confusion, as he was still oblivious to the situation at hand.

"What do you mean? Why would I want to-a…" he caught a glimpse of Elsa, standing elegantly like a black widow with a knife in hand, and his face went white with fear. "m-m-m-Mama Mia!"

"Looks like you dodged that one." Mario recognized that voice, as the one that had killed him in the previous life. He was about to charge at her with his hammer, as his jump only seamed to temporarily stun her, when Rom came charging with his wooden club.

"Rraaah!" he grunted as his swung his bulky weapon through the air, missing her and tearing up the floor in the process. Elsa slid to a stop a few feet away.

"This is the first time I've had the pleasure of fighting a giant!"

"Quit your yapping!" and he went in for another swing. Like before, Rom did nothing but move air around with his club as she leaned out of the way of his attack. This time, she saw an opening due to the large delay between each swing. Her knife snapped forward, aimed at his neck.

"Yahoo!" Mario came crashing down feet first from above with a great force, landing once again on her head before leaping off to safety several feet away. His attack was perfectly timed, and he managed to cancel her attack and save Rom's life. He thought for sure she was going to use her second knife to try and attack again, but she instead kicked the old man to the back wall. He crashed into another large wooden club hanging up on the wall, and although he was knocked out cold, he was still alive.

"Rom!" Felt ran straight for the older man pushed past both Mario and Elsa. She didn't attack the kittenish girl, but instead continued to stare down the red plumber. Elsa also didn't see Luigi's hammer swing from the side, which hit her directly in the abdomen and knocked her backwards. As she recovered, Luigi ran to his brothers' side and went into a fighting position.

"Keep-a using your hammer Luigi, jumping only seems to-a stun her. And don't-a let her get in to close, or she'll use her second knife to-a cut-a your gut!" Mario's mind filled up with memories of his previous fight, and this time he had the edge. He knew her attack main attacks, and where she will try to aim her blade. She didn't have the cover of the night, and it was two against one.

"My my, you sure do know a whole lot about me, you wouldn't happen to be a fan of mine, would you?"

"Not-a quiet, let's-a just say I have experience." He was careful not to get cocky, Elsa was still a formidable opponent, and she might have another trick up her sleeve.

"I can't help but ask, what is your name?"

"Super Mario, at-a your service." His voice triggered something in her to launch her next attack. She dashed for Mario, who did a small hop over her. He then pulled out his own hammer from behind him and swung it at her while he was landing on the ground. Her first knife knocked the attack out of the way, but the large hammer had a much quicker recharge time than what it should have had and launched itself once again at her again. Elsa pulled out her second knife, and made a cross with the two as she blocked his attack. Luigi, who wasn't under attack, used his mallet like hammer and hit Elsa directly in the head. She was thrown off balance, as she stumbled to the side while the brothers backed up a fair bit always. One of her hands was holding a spot on her head where a large bump was forming, and she forced a crooked smiled at them.

"I haven't had a fight this good in ages." Her stance was twisted, and her head was tilted to the side, "but is that all you can do? Surly you have something else don't you."

"Oh yes-a we do!" Luigi dove into his hat and pulled out a large green turtle shell, and although jumping and hammers were peculiar attack methods, Elsa was thrown off by his action. She didn't get to speak before he launched the shell at her, kicking it with enough force that it left the ground and bounced off of her head. The speeding shell then moved over to Mario, who kicked it right back at their target. The koopa shell began to rally between them, hitting Elsa with a decreasing interval between each kick. It was only when a hit from Mario drew blood, did she intervene. Her blade hit the shell out of the way but didn't manage to crack the speeding shell as it darted out of one of the windows.

"Well I've never seen anything like that before, and as much as I'd like to keep this dance going," She leaned her head forward before continuing, giving her a much more mischievous look, "it's about time that we finish things up here." Suddenly, the door to the building shot open, with tall figure standing in its place. Shards of ice formed and aimed themselves at the brothers.

"Both of you stand down." A female's voice echoed from the shadowy figure, who slowly reveled herself to be none other than Satella, the silver haired girl with large purple eyes they were fighting for. She must have been using magic of her own, as Puck was most likely asleep at this time, seeing as it was late in the day.

"Who are you?" Luigi asked confused, as her strange appearance was unlike anything he had seen before.

"She is-a the person were trying to-a give the Insignia back to!" His position was unique in this situation. Mario knew a fair bit about her, even if some of it was a lie, but she had never seen him before in her life, making Satella see them as two more thief's.

"Her!" Luigi said in a hysteric voice, turning towards his older brother "Why are we-a getting her badge back, she seems-a perfectly capable of getting it back herself!?"

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but if one of you has my insignia, then I demand that you return it." But the brothers stood their ground, minds preoccupied with a greater threat, but when they looked back at Elsa, she wasn't there. Mario's eyes scanned the darkest areas of the room, until he saw a thin outline perched on one of the wooden beams lined across the roof, right above Satella.

"Above-a you, look out!" As his words hit her ears, she looked up and saw Elsa diving down with both blades drawn. But instead of her dodging the attack, a glowing shield appeared above her, blocking the attack. When Elsa pushed herself off of the icy shield, Puck materialized above Satella with his arms crossed.

"That was a close one," Puck said with a smile as he faced Mario. "Thanks for calling me red."

Mario gave him a thumbs up when responding. "Hey, no problem! I'm-a just glad that you weren't asleep Puck!", Both Luigi and Satella were confused, as neither one of them understood how Mario knew of Puck's existence.

Elsa chuckled to herself maniacally, "A spirit huh, I have yet to slice open the stomach of a spirit." Her face was pale, her eyes were cold, and the blood streak falling down her head was more than enough to send shivers down everyone spine.

"Well I don't know about you, but that sounds awfully painful. A petty bad way to introduce yourself." Puck held up his hands and the wave of ice crystals moved away from the brothers, and towards Elsa. "Don't worry tubby, I've got it from here." And with the wave of his hands, the frozen shards dove at the murderous woman, covering her in a cloud of smoke.

"Mama mia," Luigi said with an absence of breath in his voice, "remind me not to-a get on his bad side." The crowd stared at the wave of smoke that slowly started to thin. "Did that do it, is she?" Mario's luck had been tested one already, and he didn't need his brother to test it again.

"Don't say that, we don't want to jinx ourselves." But they did, as once her outline became visible through the blue mist, she started snickering to herself.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I've come prepared. I hate that it's so heavy, but I'm glad I wore my mantle today." The cloud of smoke had completely dispersed, and Elsa stood untouched. Only this time, the cloth that Mario thought was a cape was now on the floor, leaving her body much more exposed.

Luigi's voice was desperate when he spoke. "How is-a she still standing!?"

"It's simple stuff. My mantle was woven with magic repelling material, so it can ward off any magic attack, but it has a limited use. Now then." Her stanched changed, to that of an Olympic runner readying themselves. "We shall begin our dance!"

Elsa went for Satella first, but another shield formed and blocked her attack. "Don't underestimate the hands of a spirit user." She said with a stern voice.

"She's not the only opponent, have some of this!" Puck sent another storm of ice shards her way, but Elsa jumped backwards and dodged his attack. Luigi then sent his hammer flying from his hands and at her head, but she simply leaned out of the way to dodge it.

"What are you doing!" Satella yelled at Luigi who was now hammerless. "Stay out of our way." Mario wasn't having any of it, they were in this fight too, and he wasn't going to let her yell at his younger brother for trying to help.

"Don't you see? It's-a almost five! If we don't-a hurry up then Puck will have to go to sleep! And we won't-a have his magic!"

"He is correct, and they do seem capable of fighting from the looks of it." Satella didn't like Puck's answer, and she didn't know how a person she had never met knew so much about them, but she went with it anyways.

As their eyes turned back towards Elsa, they noticed that she was missing. But out of the corner of his eye, Mario saw her falling from above with her knife at the ready. He counter attacked with his hammer, but with less weight on her shoulders and gravity at her aid, she sent his hammer flying to the other side of the room. She stood in front of him with daggers in her eyes. Mario jumped instinctively into the rafters, where he landed on one of the weak wooden beams where she was perched before. Luckily, a wave of ice from Puck caused Elsa to dash out of the way instead of attempting to jump up after him.

"You both really know how to dodge an upfront attack, albeit in different ways." Puck said to no one in particular, as he continuously sent ice shards at Elsa.

"Well which one is more impressive fluffy?" Elsa said as she continuously dashed around the room.

"Well seeing as you are still moving across the floor, I would have togive the point to tubby." His icy assault had backed Elsa against a wall, where she used one of her blades to cut up the last of the oncoming daggers.

"Don't you think it's about time that we finished up our dance? I didn't make you move all over for nothing."

Elsa looked down and saw that her foot was trapped in ice, "tsk, I went straight into your trap." A drop of sweat formed on her cheek, as she looked up at the spirit.

Two swirling orbs of blue energy began to form, one at the end of each of his front paws, quickly becoming the brightest things in the room. "It's time to say goodbye." Puck threw the two beams of light at her, forming it into a single beam of magical might. Elsa's eyes contracted, as she stood at the wrong end of the spirits attack.

The beam went through the stone wall like a hot knife through butter, filling the room with smoke and leaving the warehouse in major need of repair. Satella and Puck stood where they had been previously, while Mario jumped down from the rafters, and Luigi crept out from behind the only wooden table still left intact.

"Now is she…"

"No! Don't-a jinx's us again!" Mario yelled right into his brothers' ears, causing Luigi to stumble a little.

"Don't you think it's a bit late for that." The two looked over with eyes of horror, as once again, Elsa emerged from the smoke with her mischievous smile. Her trapped foot was not only shoeless but was covered in blood along the bottom. She cut the bottom of her foot in order to escape the blast. "That was wonderful, I thought I was going to die there." She placed her foot on a slab of ice, using it as a new shoe, and began to walk on it like as if Puck attack didn't even happen.

Satella spoke with the same level of seriousness as before towards her spirit ally. "Puck, can you still fight?"

"I'm sorry," he said with a yawn, "but I'm quite sleepy now, and if I keep going, I'll end up disappearing."

"I understand, we'll do what we can from here, so go ahead and rest."

Puck began to disappear in the same fashion as he did on the bridge, but not before saying one last thing. "Alright, but don't be afraid to call me if you need to. Oh, and don't forget about those funny looking guys, they seem to know what they're doing." With a small flash, he vanished into thin air leaving the three to their own devices.

"Um, where did-a the super cat go?" Luigi spoke with worry, as he crept up next to Satella.

"Im-a sure she'll tell you later, but-a we need to get out-a this mess first." Mario readied himself on her other side.

"Aw, is the little guy gone? Well isn't that unfortunate." Elsa began to walk over to the three with her hands up at her sides. "Now then, I guess you'll have to entertain me now." Nobody made a response, as the girl crept closer and closer.

Once she was only a few feet from the three, Elsa launched herself with her blades slicing the air as she went. Another one of Satella's shields went up, blocking the attack, but quickly shattered. Elsa looked like she was going in for a follow-up, and this time, Satella wasn't ready to block.

"Fire!" Mario's shoved his arm at Elsa, and his palm lit up at the end with a small ball of fire. He waved it in front of her, halting her attack. Luigi was blessed by the lord of thunder, and Mario was blessed by the lord of fire, giving him the abilities to control the flaming element to some extent.

"A magic user, well I'm impressed, and I thought you were just kicks and punches." he continued to press his hand farther forward, waving it about like a torch warding off snakes, but it quickly became obvious why he hadn't used this ability until now. "Is this all you can do?" Sweat began to form on his forehead, as he was easily within the striking range of her weapon.

A grey blur moved through the air, but it wasn't Elsa's blade, but Felt wielding one of the brother's hammers. She was yelling at the top of her lungs but missed due to the mallets weight. Elsa only needed to kick her in order to send her flying backwards, dropping the hammer in the process. Mario dove for after the mallet and began to wield it again. Both Satella and Mario then went of the assault, trying their best to take Elsa down.

As the fighting continued, Luigi ran over to check on Felt. She was leaning against a wall, slowly ascending to her feet. "Are you ok?" his question may have been dumb, but it was the only thing that he could come up with at the moment.

"What does it look like green bean." Her stance was shaky, and she looked like she could be blown away by the wind. "I don't know how you can be this calm. Elsa won't go down no matter what you throw at her." He looked at blankly, and although he didn't show it, he was scared, more scared then he had ever been in his whole cowardly life. He looked around the room, watching as Satella and his brother slowly exhaust themselves as they fought to take down Elsa. There wasn't much that he could do, and it seemed like there was no hope for any of them to get out alive.

That is, until he saw his hammer leaning against the wall lined with windows. There was a hole where the koopa shell that they used earlier few out of the building. He might not be able to defeat Elsa, nor his brother, not Satella Puck Felt or Rom, but somebody outside just might have a chance. He looked over and saw that the three fighters were on the opposite side of the room, giving him safe passage to his hammer. "Don't-a worry, I've-a got a plan to get us out of this mess." In a swift motion, he grabbed Felt by the hand, and ran her over to the other side.

"h-Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!" Luigi only did what was asked of him when he got to the other side of the room. He lifted up his hammer and broke open the window with a single bow.

"Listen, nobody in here is-a able to defeat her." He said pointing at the witch of a woman. "So if-a we have any hope, then it's-a out there."

"What are you saying?"

"Run! Get-a somebody, anybody who can defeat-a Elsa and bring them here! Go now!" His voice was strong and determined, emotions that didn't belong on somebody with a face like his.

"Well if you wanted me to go get help, why did you break open the window? The door is right next to it."

"Eh?" sure enough, the door was only a few feet to the right and was wide open, he would have facepalmed himself, if Mario's voice didn't reach his ears first.

"Luigi! Behind you." And sure enough, Elsa was dashing right for them. He blindly swung his hammer in her direction, and luck just so happened to be on his side. The spot where he hit the ground caused the floor boards underneath her to shoot up, knocking her off balance and throwing her off to the side. Luigi looked where Felt used to be, only to noticed that she had already left the building. Their only hope of survival rested in the hands of the kittenish thief that got them into this mess in the first place.

* * *

Felt ran through the streets as fast as her feet could go, with her head down and tears beginning to form. It didn't take long for her to get out of the slums and into the main streets, but she had no clue as to who she should turn to. The pressure put on her was tremendous, as if she didn't find anyone soon enough, then everyone in that building will be nothing more than a rotting copse.

The thought of Rom's death came from that thought, causing her to fall to her hands and knees. The tears that were in her eyes fell to the ground and began to form a puddle. She hadn't felt this alone in a long time.

"Somebody, Anybody." Her sobs made her speech choppy, and almost incoherent.

"I understand, I'll help you." A gentleman's voice came from in front of her, and she lifted her head in order to see who made the noise. He was tall, and noble looking. He had flaming red hair with a similar hue as to Mario's hat. He wore white clothes with a red trim, that looked to be a cross between a jacket and armor. A large sword was strapped at his side, and his arm was reaching down towards her, offering his hand in assistance.

"who, who are you?"

* * *

The fight at the loot cellar was near its end, as a battered Satella and beat up Mario brothers stood in front of Elsa, who was still ready for action.

"Are game is almost over, how much longer can you keep me entertained."

"Does five minutes seem unreasonable." Luigi said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I would-a prefer if you said something a bit longer, but I'll take what I can-a get." Mario said, going off of what brother said, not knowing if they could even last that long. The thought of death was frightening, as even though he had died before and was given another chance at life, who was to say it would happen again.

"Hm, well if you ask me, I would prefer something a bit quicker." Elsa then dashed at the three with her twin knives. They had little to no energy left, and all they could do was brace for impact, but it never came. Instead, a sword surrounded in light shot between the two forces, before crashing into the wall an creating another hole.

"We made it just in time!" everyone looked in the direction of the voce, only to see a red-haired man in an armor like robe.

"Who are you? Mario asked, as this was the first time that he had met somebody he hadn't in the previous one.

"Ah, you must be Mario," he spoke with a similar authority to that of Satella, but his words shocked Mario none the less. "You know, this is the second time I've seen you today. I must commend you for helping that little girl find her mother, a noble thing indeed." Both Mario and Luigi looked at each other, nonverbally asking if the other had seen this man before, both answering with no. The man then turned his attention to Elsa, who was still standing in the same position when her attack was canceled.

"Black hair and matching attire, a peculiar sword of a north nation, you're 'gut slicer' right? You're pretty famous even in the capitol." Gut Slicer, a menacing nick name that the brothers had the displeasure of experiencing first-hand.

"Reinhart, one of the sword sage lineage." Her face then darkened and went from cunning to psychotic.

Reinhart surveyed the scene and noticed that the only living beings in front of him were the brothers, Satella, Elsa and Rom "You two," he said gesturing at the red and green duo, "Take the old man and move behind me. Don't worry, I won't let her hurt you." Satella nodded, as she ran out of the battleground area, leaving the brothers to drag Rom to safety.

"Be careful, she's-a pretty tough" Luigi said as he passed the swordsman.

"Don't worry Luigi, I'll take it from here."

Reinhart reached towards the floor and picked up a rapier that had fallen off the wall.

"Don't want to use the sword on your hip, I'm thinking of tasting the legendary swords might." Elsa commented.

He gave a stern look before responding, "I only use that sword when it is necessary, and now is not the time. Are you unsatisfied?"

Elsa licked her lips before giving her response. "No, just as long as you keep me company."

If one were to try and compare the fight to something, they would say it was like watching a grass hopper trying to fight a tank. Elsa leaped into the air, only for her to be hit by a devastatingly powerful magic attack, which had the power to total the rest of the build and leave a ten-foot gap in the cities outer wall. Why was it compared to that, well because Reinhart's first and only attack was a large sword beam that totaled the rest of the building and left a ten-foot gap in the cities outer wall.

The rapier that he was holding cracked, and soon after shattered into thousands of tiny shards. Reinhart softly whispered, "I'm sorry, I made you do too much. Take a nice long rest" to the sword. After that, there was a peaceful quiet that hung around the area.

"I'm not-a going to say anything this time."

"Good." The quiet didn't last long after that, as the two brothers burst into laughter and began to cry into each other's arms, believing that they had reached the true end of the fight.

"Reinhart Van Astrea," Satella approached the knight and began to bow. "I thank you for your assistance."

"It was no problem at all, but the person you should be thanking is that girl over there." He said, pointing at Felt who was leaning over Rom's unconscious body. "She was the one who brought me over here in the first place."

Instead of joy, she was filled with anger, yelling at the kittenish girl. "Wait, that girl was the one that stole my insignia!" As Satella stomped over to Felt, Luigi butted in-between them right before she was within grabbing distance.

"Wait! She was-a the one who brought that-a sword guy here! If she hadn't, we would-a be swimming with the cheep-cheeps!" the last bit was confusing for her, but he then held out his hands revealing a small metal badge. It was her insignia. "Besides, we were going to give-a this back to you anyways."

"g-Give it back?"

"Yes! Me and-a my bro Mario," Luigi said happily, gesturing towards His older brother "He heard that-a this medal belonged to you, so we tried to make a deal with-a Felt to get it back." He then put his hand on the back of his head and chuckled to himself. "But that-a was before Elsa threw a bob-omb in our plans."

Satella, despite not understanding everything he was saying, couldn't help but feel touched. Two strangers went out of their way and risked their lives, with no other reason than to help her. A smile grew on her face as she tried to hide her blush. She wanted to say something more sincerer, but the only thing she could think of was saying was, "Thank you."

But Satella didn't get to say much more then that that when a large noise came from behind her. It was Elsa, heavily injured but somehow still not dead, dashing out of a large pile of rubble straight for her.

"Look out!" Reinhart could only callout, as he was too far away for him to do anything. Mario however, who was much closer, sprang into action. He pushed Satella out of the way, and stood his ground, seeing as there was no way for him to move out of the way himself. He dawned his hammer, pulling it out of thin air from behind him, and swung it at Elsa who was aiming for his head. He leaned his head back enough that the blade only cut his hat horizontally across the M, before letting his hammer fly into her side, stunning her and throwing her off balance. Before Elsa could even blink, Luigi did something nobody would have expected.

"Thunder!" His palm was opened right next to her, and a glowing spark of electricity emanated from his hand. Elsa screamed in pain as his electric attack flowed through her, causing her to twitch and sizzle, and her long flowing hair to shoot upwards. The reaction filled Luigi with guilt, and he quickly stepped away and stopped his attack.

"This won't be… the last you hear… of me." Elsa then collapsed onto the floor unconscious and unaware, and this time, she wasn't getting back up.

"Couldn't you have-a done that a little sooner Luigi?" Mario puffed out, exhausted, but not angry.

"She was-a moving too fast, I could never get-a close enough. It's not like-a you did much better." A smile was on his face, as the two mocked each other playfully. Satella quickly ran over to their side worried.

"Mario! Luigi! Are you ok!?" Her tone was not that unlike peach's when she calls out to Mario after he heroically saved the day, making it strange to have that tone used by Satella of all people.

"I'm-a fine, you don't-a need to worry about anything." Mario chuckled, trying to douse her worry.

Reinhart's voice was apologetic as he addressed him. "I'm sorry Mario. This only happened because I left my guard down. I don't know what would have happened if you were not here."

"Hey, Don't-a worry, I thought she was-a dead just like-a you, the only difference between you and0a me was where we were standing. Besides, it-a was Luigi who stopped her." His brother blushed as everyone's eyes turned towards him.

"Thank you, Luigi," Satella said first, "If there is anything you require, please let me know, as I am indebted to you gratefully."

"Well, there is-a one thing I would like to-a know." Her face went blank as she waited for his request. "The thing is, I don't-a know your name, so how can I ask for something from somebody I don't-a know the name of."

At first, she just stared, but quickly smiled and answered in a beautiful and melodic voce. "Emelia, just Emelia." For the first time, both Mario and Luigi learned the true mysterious purple eyed, pointy eared, silver haired girls name.

He held out his hand and greeted her promptly. "Well, It's-a nice to meet you Emelia." She took his hand, which happed to completely cover hers, and shook it firmly.

Mario couldn't help but feel giddy. Against all odds, he managed to stop Elsa, save everyone life, and return the Insignia to its rightful owner. He leapt up into the air, pumping his fist even higher. "Yahoo!" when he landed on his feet all eyes were on him. "And-a that's why were the _Super_ Mario Brothers!"

But when he looked at everyone, they had eyes of concern. Luigi was pointing at him, but he couldn't get any words out, and it was only when Reinhart spoke did everything clear itself up. "I'm sorry Mario, I'm sorry that you had to experience this." With that, he looked down at his belly and saw a very similar cut as to what killed him the first time. He had completely forgotten about her second blade, and because of it, Elsa made long thin cut along his belly that went through both articles of clothing before slicing into his skin. The sight was nauseating, and he started to wobble.

"Oh man, I feel-a light headed." He fell backwards onto the torn up wooden floor. His hearing instantly faded, and his vison went hazy as he looked up at the night sky, which was quickly covered up with the faces of his brother and Emelia. Memories of his previous death flashed back, as he felt the same burning pain in his stomach he experienced last time. If he did manage to return from death, he knew what he had to do in order to make it out alive. At the very least, he died knowing that his brother was unharmed. Mario went unconscious soon after that.

* * *

"Mario, no!" Luigi however, wasn't ready for his brother's life to end. He stood up, digging deep into his pockets, searching endlessly for something, anything that could save his life. Meanwhile, Emelia was leaning by his side with her hand held out not that far from Mario's body. Lights were emanating off of them, slowly closing his wound. Reinhart was standing to the side, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help him.

"He is bleeding too much, I don't know if I can close the wound in time." Her voice was filled with worry and regret. He had just put his life on the line for her, and his act of kindness was about to get him killed. The first time in a long while anyone had gone out of their way to be kind towards her, and he was about to die because of it.

And Luigi, he was about to lose his brother because of her inability to protect herself. What would he think of her then. The only other person who had been kind to her as well was about to lose somebody dear to him, and it was all her fault. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as guilt washed over her.

"Luigi, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I can't even begin to…"

"Oh Yes! I've-a got one! He's saved!" Emelia looked up at Luigi, who was triumphantly holding up a strange mushroom. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was round, bulbus, and was red with white spots on the top. It looked squishy, and it had two oval eyes on its front. "s-Saved? But isn't that just a mushroom?"

"No, it's-a Super Mushroom!" He had used these may times before, and the effects given by eating one of these was so beneficial, it was worth it's pocket space in gold. Once eaten, should the user become victim of a potentially fatal blow, they will shrink down to a smaller size for a couple hours, saving them from death. The power-up has secondary effects as well. Eating a Super Mushroom will help heal the body of any physical harm currently present, ranging from joint pain to a dismembered limb. Luigi may have known the powerup could save his brother's life, but Emelia only saw a strange looking fungus.

He wasted no time. Luigi moved over to the head of his brother, still and lifeless aside from a heavy and irregular breath. He opened up his Jaw and dropped the mushroom into his mouth. "Luigi, there is no magic food that can heal wounds like this. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be the cause of your brother's death."

"What? You didn't kill-a my bro. Look, it's-a already working!" She looked down where her hands were position in disbelief by what she saw. His cloths may have been torn, but the skin underneath had completely healed. She touched where the wound was, and only felt smooth skin. Mario's breath steadied, as his sleep became a peaceful one.

"How? How did his cut heal, my magic couldn't have done it, what was it?"

"That's-a the power of the Super Mushroom power-up!" Luigi said triumphantly.

"Power, up?" She had never heard this phrase before, yet it seemed so simple for him to use, like it was second nature. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but the voice of Felt stole her attention.

"Emelia, is it? I think this belonged to you." In her hand, the blond-haired girl held out the insignia that Luigi had possession of not so long ago. When he saw it, Luigi patted himself down, wondering how he had lost the badge. "You dropped it when you were using that lightning spell on Elsa, I picked it up so that it didn't get lost."

"Thank you Felt. I appreciate your kindness." She went to retrieve her Insignia, when Reinhart darted in-between them.

"Hold on, let me see something." He held Felts hands open, staring at the medal intently. His actions stressed out felt and confused the other two onlookers.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing!?" Felt yelled, as her hand was being held in an uncomeatable position. Reinhart continuously stared at the medallion, and the glowing gem that was in the center.

"I'm sorry Felt but need you to come with me."

"What? Like hell I am!" She tried to pull away, but the red knight placed his hand on her head, applying a spell to the kittenish girl, putting Felt to sleep. She quickly went limp, and he started carrying her bridal style.

"Wha- What-a did you just-a do to Felt!?" his voice was filled with rage, and steam almost fumed out of Luigi's ears.

He didn't respond to him, but to Emelia instead. "I know that she was returning your Insignia, but this crime is not something that I can turn my heads against." He placed the medal into her hands, and then turned to leave the premises.

"Where are-a you taking her!?" Luigi stood in front of him again, in-between him and the door, or a large hole in the wall where the door was.

Reinhart looked sternly into Luigi's eyes menacingly, "As a master swordsman, and a man of the law, it is my duty to enforce it as I see fit, and if you choose to oppose me, then I will have to use force against you." Luigi gulped with fear, and any form of resolve he previously had vanished from his determined threat.

"b-but what about Rom? What about Elsa!"

"I'm sure he will manage, and besides, he is involved with stolen goods, so I'm doing him a great service by not arresting him. As for Elsa, I will come back for her shortly. Now if you excuse me, I will be taking my leave." This time, Luigi didn't stop him, letting Reinhart bush by him out of the building with Felt in hand.

The room went silent, and once again, Luigi had no idea where to go. He may have his brother, but he was now recovering from a deadly wound, so him waking up anytime soon wasn't likely, even after eating the mushroom. He looked at his brother, sleeping peacefully of the torn-up floor.

"Mama mia, what-a do we do now." As he spoke glumly. Emelia couldn't help but feel pity for him, and a since of indebtment.

"Luigi, do you happen to live anywhere near here?" He shook his head before responding.

"No, and-a to be honest, I don't even know where I am now. Aside from not in-a my house." He chuckled halfheartedly, as the situation wasn't one somebody could simply laugh at.

"Well where do you live?"

He paused for a minute, not knowing if what she might think of the answer, but he eventually gave in. "The Mushroom Kingdom."

As expected, she had no clue as to what he was talking about, made clear by her facial reaction and her verbal one. "I haven't heard of that place, is it in the north or something?"

"I don't-a know, but I wish I did, seeing as we don't-a have a place to stay." A solution came into her mind, and although she didn't know if it would work out, she should at least try.

"Well, you could stay where I'm living, and I'm sure your brother will be quite safe there."

"Really!" his face lit up quickly, and his eyes sparked a bit, "That-a would be great! Thanks-a so much!"

"It's nothing, you did help save my life and all."

"Heh, it-a was a nothing." He blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head, as this was unusual feeling he wasn't quite used to. "But a, where exactly is-a your house?"


	5. Chapter 5: Old Foes, New Enemies

Chapter 5: Old Foes, New Enemies.

"Lord Bowser? Lord Bowser are you awake?"

"I think he may be asleep."

In the middle of a large forest, three strange creatures were standing in front of a great beast. Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplonk, and Sergeant Guy were all trying to wake up the sleeping koopa. "Lord Bowser! The castle is under attack! … Well it was worth a shot." The goomba turned to the others in defeat, without a clue as to what to do now.

All of them recalled blinking into a forest, and started wandering around for a bit, looking for any familiar landmarks. They all ran into each other when they stumbled on Bowser, sleeping on his belly.

"It doesn't look like he is going to wake up any time soon, do you think it was that mushroom he ate?" The koopa said.

"Maybe, but I've never seen one like that one before." Said the Shy Guy.

"Lord Bowser does have issues with mushrooms."

"But he normally doesn't go into hibernation whenever he eats a fungi."

"What if Lord Bowser is actually a bear, and he can only hibernate after eating that kind of mushroom." The two looked at the Goomba who was now standing on their master's head, jumping on him repeatedly, trying once again to wake up. "Too much?"

"What do you think?" said the Koopa sarcastically.

"Well I'm sorry for being reasonable."

"I think you're being the opposite of reasonable." The Shy Guy said.

"I'm just trying to come up with a reason Bowser was defeated so easily by Mario." The word caused him to lose his footing and tumble to the ground, as Bowser Jerked awake. He lunched himself up to his feet, and let-out a tremendous roar that echoed through the maze of green around them. A fire went up in his eyes as his minions fed to nearby foliage.

"Mario! There's no way I'm letting defeat me this time. You better pray I don't burn you to… Ash." Bowser looked around curiously, realizing that he was no longer in Peach's castle, but in deep forest. "Where, am I?"

Sergeant guy was the first to emerge from hiding. "The truth is, we don't know."

"Yeah, we just kind of blinked into this forest." Said the Koopa.

The Goomba was the last to come out, "It was probably that mushroom that Mario…"

He clenched his fists, and began to growl, "Don't say that name! I was this close to pounding that pesky plumber, and if I had, then I would have napped Peach once and for all."

"Then Mario would come and rescue her."

"What did I just say!" his roar knocked back the trio back into the thicket. "That name makes my furious!"

"But your fury is only of your most charming attributes." Said the Goomba, failing to cheer up his master.

"That's beside the point! If it wasn't for him and green stache, my plans would have worked years ago!" As he let out his aggression, he looked around the environment more closely. He was standing in the middle of a clearing, with tall, maple trees covering up the sky and the space around him. There was no clear path to anywhere, and nothing looked native to the Mushroom Kingdom, or anywhere else he had been.

As he was looking into the deep green, a dark light drifted towards the small group from the thicket. Bowser was the first to say anything. "Um, what is that little floaty light thing?"

"Don't know boss," the shy guy said worriedly, "but it looks like it's coming closer."

"Closer, it's coming right for us!" the paratroopa was even more scared then his comrade was.

"Maybe it's friendly?" but the goomba's response didn't resonate with the others. It was glowing dark purple, and the light moved slowly, twitching on occasion. A nipping cold filled the area, and nearby plants started to wilt. Once it reached the group, it didn't even bother going near his minions, but moved straight to Bowser. The two eyed each other down, despite the light not having eyes. The orb then moved around the Koopa, as if it were inspecting him.

"What are you looking at bub?" he tried his best to act tough, but the scene was certainly nerve racking. It stopped at the front and started speaking.

"You…" it was a woman's voice, it was one of beauty, obscured with reverb like echo. "Bowser, King of the Koopas, sworn enemy of Mario. Is that you?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Alright!" A large puff of purple smoke exploded form the orb, into the top half of a being, like a genie if it were all one color. It was a woman looking at him at eye level, with deep red eyes. She had long flowing hair, pointed ears, and a dress that faded away when it neared where her legs should have been. "It's good to finally meet you."

"Meet you? I've never seen you before in my life, how do you know about me?"

"My my, it seems you don't know how far your reputation travels do you. My name is Satella, the jealousy witch."

"Well I could say the opposite of you, I've never heard of a 'jealousy witch' in my life."

"Oh, but the people who live in this land sure have, and I'm not talking about those puny mushroom creatures."

Bowser looked at his minions, who were all shaking their heads from behind his spiny shell. "What's your deal, missy?"

"I'm saying that I summoned you from your world into mine, because I require your assistance." The four's expression went to shock after hearing her response.

"Another world? Your saying we're not in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore?" the Paratroopa squeaked out, drawing her attention to him.

"Yes, yes indeed." She moved her gaze back to Bowser before continuing. "I have summoned you here to restore my body. Restore me to my former power."

"Former power, listen bub, I just met you and you are ordering me around! Nobody gets to do stuff like that but me."

"Oh, but I'm doing it right now." Bowser's rage started building, and a burning fire started forming in his belly.

"Quit your yapping!"

"Ooo, the beast growls! How cute."

He snapped. Bowser's mouth opened wide releasing a wave of fire from his mouth aimed directly at Satella. But instead of burning her, she simply waved her hand and absorbed his attack in a dark sphere originating from her hand. When he seized his attack, his resolve had dissipated completely.

"Now, as I was saying." The witch started floating around them slowly, and the koopa and his minions turned with her. "I have brought you here to return me to my body, and in return, I will remove your plumber problem."

The minions tried convincing him that this deal was too sketchy, but it was to no avail. "You mean all I have to do is give you some legs and you'll help me pound Mario to a pulp!"

"Not exactly, but you get the idea." She smiled, stopped moving, and held out her hand. "So, do we have a deal?" Despite the pleas of his minions, he shook the smaller but equally strong hand of Satella.

"You got yourself a deal Missy!" as they shook hands, the three minions only looked on with fear. "Now where do we find your lost legs."


	6. Chapter 6: In Another Mansion

Chapter 6: In Another Mansion

Luigi jerked away in the dead of the night from a terrifying nightmare. As he calmed down from his adrenalin rush, he came to his senses and remembered to think logically. Mario's stomach, a master swordsman, spirits, there was no way that any of those events could happen. So, he simply rolled to his side, and let his head sink into a soft pillow and back to sleep.

It was only then when he realized that he was sleeping in his usual clothes and not in his night gown. He wasn't even in his own bed, but rather a large king-sized mattress with sheets as soft as clouds. Luigi looked up, and noticed that he was in a large room, regal in design with fancy décor and large windows. The walls were trimmed beautifully, and the wooden floors were almost shining in the moonlight. It looked like he was sleeping in a royal bedroom.

"Where am-a I?" he couldn't help but ask, despite the answer glairing him in the face. Emelia was taking them to her house inside of a carriage pulled by a strange dinosaur creature, piloted by somebody he forgot the face and name of. It was in the middle of the night too, so it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Somebody must have moved him into the bed he was currently sitting in. However, there was only one thing on his mind.

"Mario?" The accentuated vowels echoed through the open room as he called for his brother. If this wasn't a dream, then his sibling was somewhere inside of the building. When he slid out of the endless sea of cloth and pillows, Luigi saw his tool belt, hat, and shoes on a small wooden desk halfway between him and the door. He moved towards it, and grabbed a small flashlight out of his belt, placed his hat on his head, and slid on his shoes. Afterwards, Luigi left the room by exiting through a large wooden door that sat in the middle of the north wall.

As the heavy door creaked open, he looked into a long and dark hallway that seemed to curve in a circle. He began to feel nervous as he looked around the near pitch-black room. It reminded him of the time he had to rescue Mario from a haunted mansion, and for a coward like him, the memories were not pleasant.

He started to move down the halls, occasionally calling out his brother's name with an increasingly frightened tone. The doors were endless, and the lack of windows were not appreciated, as light from the full moon would most defiantly increases the rooms visibility. Thus, his vision was limited to the cone of light emitted by the small and dim flashlight that he carried.

Unexpectedly, his flashlight flickered out and plunged Luigi into darkness. A small squeak of fear escaped from his mouth, and he started to juggle his flashlight with his hand. Once he regained control of his light, he hit the small device against his hand a few times, mumbling in the process, before it sparked back to life.

"Ahhh!" Luigi feel backwards when he saw what his flashlight was aimed at. Hanging on the wall in-between two majestic doors, was a large painting of a mysterious man with a large black coat and an abundance of makeup. He looked like a vampiric, clown wizard, with smooth blue hair, flashy clothing and pale white skin. It was something that would take anyone by surprise, Luigi especially so.

He sighed, picked himself off of the floor, and began to continue down the hallway. After a short while, made longer by Luigi's nervous movement, he reached an open door. It was the room that he woke up in. He saw the bed sheets thrown to the side, and his belt was still hanging on the chair. It appeared that the hall was circular, meaning one of the doors he pased must be the exit.

He turned back to the hallway and pointed his flashlight at several of the doors that lined the side of the hall that his room was on. He moved to the first door his light touched and pushed it open.

"Mario?" his voice accentuated the vowels in his brother's name, as he peered into another dark bedroom. Empty. He closed the door and went to the next one. In an almost identical fashion, he duplicated the events that happened with the previous one. Luigi opened up a third door, a fourth, and he was twelve doors in when he started getting frustrated.

"Mama mia, why does-a all these doors lead to-a empty bedroom." He clenched his fists as he stopped to the next door, and muttering as he opened it up in an aggravated tone. "I better find-a the right door soon or I will-a get-a real… mad." As he shoved the door open, his eyes were treated to a sight that wasn't identical to the previous dozen doors or so.

The floor was tiled in a black and white checkerboard and had a ceiling that went on into the darkness. The room below however was fully light by windows that were illuminated by nonvisible light. His eyes gazed at the walls and shelves that filled the room. There was an endless number of books that filled the room with knowledge, and the smell of dust and old parchment paper; However, a small voice took his attention, and aimed it directly in front of him.

"How do you… look like such a deeply irritating person, I wonder?" A small blond girl in a large pink, Victorian style dress sat in a wooden chair in front of Luigi. She had a large, drill like ponytails on opposite sides of her head, tied up with large ribbons of matching color with her dress. A large book in a foreign language rested in her lap, and a tea set was sitting on a table of equal size to the chair she was sitting in. She was half a foot shorter than his brother, making her only slightly taller than a toad, which failed to justify her snarky tone.

"Hello there, what's-a your name?" Luigi held out his left hand to the girl, but she just eyes it down with her large, blank eyes.

"What a shame. The green insect thinks that it is on an equal level to Betty." Her comment was hurtful but spoken in a casual tone. It angered Luigi regardless.

"Hey, what's-a that sapota to mean!" he leaned one foot forward and moved his arm into a defensive position.

"It means that the green human is stupid to think it is equal to Betty, I suppose. Your ignorance is almost amusing." The girl, who referred to herself as Betty, had a devilish smile.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm-a sure that-a I'm just as-a strong as you are, and-a my bro is-a even stronger!" She looked at him with an increasing agitation as Luigi rambled on. "Mario is-a the greatest hero in the world! And he is just-a like us. Human!"

"Hm, Is that why he needed healing from Emelia? I wonder?"

"He would have-a lived with or without Emelia!" Luigi was quickly losing his cool, trying desperately to his best to prove his brothers worth. "At-a least he doesn't live in a Library." He exclaimed, unsure if she lived there or not.

The girl snapped her book shut and stood up from her chair. "Betty is finally at her limit, and you should be put in your place I suppose." She continued to walk towards Luigi, until she was within an arms distance away from him.

When 'Betty' held her hands up to Luigi's belly, his anger was replaced with confusion. "Eh? What are you-a do…"

"Is there anything you want to say?" Her voice went cold when she questioned him.

"I'm-a ticklish." His face grew worried, and he could only guess what was going to happen. She touched his belly with the tip of her finger, and at first, nothing happened, but a shocking pain quickly filled his entire body. He screamed out in agony as he struggled to stay standing. His eyes went wide, and his hands gripped his hat tightly. The pain started to subside soon after, and he fell to his hands and knees.

"Hm, you didn't faint. You are stronger then you appear, I suppose."

"What, was-a that. What-a did you-a do to me." His voice was scattered and weak.

"Betty simply interfered with the mana in your body slightly. Does the circulation feel off I wonder?"

Luigi didn't know what mana was, all he knew was that something was up with this small girl. "Mana?"

"Still ignorant. Well, seeing as you have no evil intent, your mana should suffice for troubling Betty." She then took her hand, and placed it on Luigi's forehead, who was now looking at her.

"What are you… you're not-a human… are you." Tears formed in his eyes but hadn't begun to fall down his face.

"You are slow to grasp this aren't you, even for somebody who has met Puckie."

"Wait, you're-a spir…" Luigi didn't get to finish his sentence before a wave of burning pain cursed through his entire body once again. He held out as long as he could, but he eventually fell to the burning pain that pulsed through his body.

* * *

Sunlight filled the large guest room with a warming glow as morning arrived. The Red Italian slept peacefully in his bed, until the light from the window touched his eyelids. He stirred a bit, and his nosed twitched as his eyes fluttered open. Mario sat up, let out a large yawn, and stretched out his arms. He looked at the room in front of him and noticed that he was in a regal looking bedroom with nothing but a large bed and a desk without a chair. He also noticed that he was wearing a white and light blue checkered night gown, that had a silk like texture to it. He looked down, staring through the neck of his outfit and at his belly, noticing that there was no cut on his stomach, not even a scar.

"What-a happened?" he said out loud, unknowing of the other entity in the room.

"Ah good heavens, I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up." The voice was old and wise, and when Mario turned to his right, he saw Toadsworth sitting on top of a chair that went with the desk he had.

"Toadsworth! It's-a so good to-a see you again!" Mario threw off the covers and leapt off of the bed, revealing his bare feet and calves, which were clean shaven.

"It is good to see you too master Mario." His was calm and orderly, much different then Mario who was practically jumping with joy.

"What-a happened to you, you disappeared from-a-the castle into-a thin air."

"I don't know, one moment I was in the princess's chambers, and the next I found myself in the middle of a large village. I was worried at first, as all of the residents took curiosity to my appearance, but luckily the princess found her way to me and…"

"Peach! She was-a with you! Is-a she here?!" his smile was grand, and his eyes were joyful.

"Why yes she is. The princess is outside in the backyard." Toadsworth didn't even get to finish his sentence before Mario leapt towards the door. "Wha? Master Mario, where are you going?"

Mario didn't stop, and he kept moving towards the large door. He was reaching for the handle of the door, only for it to pull away from him at the last second. Looking up, he came face to face with Emelia, who was curiously looking down at him.

"Mario, your already up." her face quickly went into a smile when she saw him standing upright. She was in an outfit similar to the one she had on in the capitol, only it was tamer, having no flowing parts to it. "I heard some loud voices coming from this room, so I decided to check in on you."

"Emelia!" he looked at her with a mixture of emotions, all of which he couldn't express in a full paragraph, let alone one question, but he attempted to do so anyway. "What-a happened! All I remember is-a pushing you away from-a Elsa, and then I got-a cut in-a-my stomach. Are you all-a right?"

His sudden outburst caught her off guard, making her lose the smile the was on her face just moments before. "Yes, I'm fine, but what about you ok? Your brother feed you some strange mushroom that healed the slash in your stomach, but I've never seen anything like it before."

After hearing this, there was only one thing that came to mind. "Oh, Luigi must have-a used a super mushroom on-a me." He chuckled, "Don't-a worry, I'm-a going be-a fine." His words eased Emelia, as she relaxed her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief, relieving her concern for the red Italian. "By the way, where are-a we?" Said Mario, looking around the room, noticing that Toadsworth had moved to Mario's side.

Emelia stepped back into the hallway, letting the two out of their room "We are in the residency of Roswaal L. Mathers. The greatest magic user in the land."

"Ah yes," Toadsworth began, turning to inform Mario, "Quite an interesting fellow if I were to put it simply, his personality is quite unique. I'm afraid that you will have to wait a bit before you can meet him yourself Master Mario." Mario nodded, but was distracted by something before he could ask when he met Roswaal in the first place.

"Help! They're-a trying to-a kill me!" The three in the hallway turned east of Mario's door, and saw Luigi bursting out of one of the doors down the hall. Unlike Mario, he was in his regular outfit, except for his shoes and hat, which allowed everyone to see his striped socks and messy hair. Luigi dashed towards his older brother and slid behind him.

"Luigi, what-a happened?" Mario didn't move his brother, who was now cowering behind him.

He pointed in front of him, before shuddering out "They were-a trying to-a strangle me!" Mario followed his brothers' arms and found himself at eye level with two young women standing firmly in front of him. Mario yelped from the shock at seeing the two as they, like everything else in this world, had a very distinctive appearance. The one on the right had short pink hair that covered her right eye, leaving her large red left eye uncovered. The rest of her face was dainty and small, as well as the rest of her body, which was covered up by an extravagantly fancy maid's outfit. The woman on his right shared a twin like resemblance to the pink-haired maid, with the only differences being that her eyes and hair was blue, and her chest was bigger.

He tried speaking, but it was the blue-haired maid that spoke first. "Sister, sister, the green man is hiding behind the red man like a coward." Immediately afterwards, pink-haired maid made an observation of her own.

"Rem, Rem, the green man is very much a coward, isn't he?" Mario and Luigi may go off of each other's words, but the two seemed like clones of each other, and Mario didn't take to kindly to them insulting his brother.

He leaned forward and closed his fist at them. "Hey, what's-a-the big idea? I'm-a not just going to-a let you make fun of-a-my bro like-a that!" The two stood staring at him for a moment before responding.

"Rem, Rem, the tubby red man is defending the cowardly green man."

"Sister, sister, the fat red man is defending his cowardly brother."

Their words sparked an action of offence and embarrassment in Mario, who placed his hands on his stomach, which would have been the farthest-reaching part of his body if it weren't for his bulbous nose. Luigi's face went from fear to anger, and moved his brother out of the way, only for Emelia to jump in-between the two opposing forces.

"I'm sorry about that, the maids are a bit overdramatic, but they have good intentions at heart." Emelia turned towards the two maids calmly before continuing, "Ram, Rem, thank you for watching over Luigi, you may return to your duties."

The maid did a heavy bow to Emelia, and simultaneously said "As you wish lady Emelia," before straightening. They each looked at one of the brothers intently for only a moment, before turning around and starting down the hallway.

"Wow," Luigi said with the sound of shock in his voice, "They sure are-a peculiar." Mario didn't say it, but he couldn't help but agree. The two had no sense of common curtsey, and the look the blue haired maid gave him was one of disgust. It was alarming, and it sent shivers up his spine. He definitely needed to figure out more about her, and her sister as well. It was only when Luigi finished his thought did Mario break out of his state of thought. "So, I'm-a guessing that-a-the pink haired girl is-a Ram?"

Emelia smiled when she answered Luigi's question. "Yes, Ram is one of the maids of Roswall's Mansion, as well as Rem's twin sister."

"Wow, I knew that-a twins were-a similar, but-a they take it to-a new level."

Toadsworth, who had been quite for the entire encounter, finally spoke up to Emelia with a stern face and with his hands on his wooden cane. "Lady Emelia, if you don't mind, I would like to ask if we could go see the princess, I'm sure Master Mario and Luigi would like to see her."

Instead of Emelia, it was Luigi who spoke up first, saying in a calm tone "Oh Toadsworth, I didn't-a know that you were here." Midsentence, Luigi fully processed the elder mushroom's words, and changed his demeanor. "Wait, the princess is-a here!?"

"Yes," Mario said answering his brothers question swiftly, "Peach and-a Toadsworth apparently came to-a this castle yesterday." He turned to Emelia and continued, "Could-a you show us-a-the way?" Emelia nodded, and began walking down the hall, until he came across a door like any other, and opened it up to reveal another corridor of endless doors. The small group continued to follow a maze of doors, staircases, and corridors until they came across a large door that looked to be a grand entranceway of the building. They opened it up and found themselves with a grad backyard filled with flowing grass and stone pathways leading to white gazeboes far off in the distance.

Closer to the house was a rectangular area with intricate and carefully maintained hedge art along the sides of the Mansion. There were however, two rectangular gardens that split the stone floor into tree pathways, both of which were filled with foliage that Mario recognized as the sapling of many of the powerups he had used on his past adventures. On the left, two small trees were blocking the sun from touching a sea of small baby mushroom, and the right was filled with un-bloomed flowers, with a woman in an elegant pink dress and golden hair tending to them.

"Peach!" Mario ran towards her great speed forgetting that he was only in a nightgown and shoeless. Peach turned around, and her face lit up when she saw her knight in shining armor. She slid her white gloves back on and rose up to greet him. When the two were in arms distance between each other, Mario took her delicate hands and held them in his own. "Peach, it's-a so good to-a see you. You're not-a hurt or-a anything right?"

The princess spoke in a melodic tone, one filled with beauty and grace, and it warmed his heart when she said, "I'm fine, I should be the one asking you." Mario let go of her hands and loosened his body.

"But what-a happened? All I remember at-a-the castle was seeing you disappearing into-a thin air."

She still maintained her elegance when she answered, "I don't know. One moment I was inside of Bowsers cage, and the next I found myself in the middle of a forest. I didn't know where anyone else was, so I decided to see if I could find out where they were. It didn't take long before I came across a small town filled with people, and it was where I found Toadsworth playing with a group of children." She giggled at the last part, but the elder toad standing behind Mario felt different about the situation.

"Ahem, I thought we agreed that stayed between us your Highness." Toadsworth said with a grumble.

"Oh, I'm sorry Toadsworth, it must have slipped my mind." Peach said in a slightly apologetic tone, "But it was quite enjoyable to watch."

The old mushroom man sighed heavenly from the Princesses innocent actions before changing the subject "Putting my traumatic experiences aside, the important thing is that we are all in good health and are in each other's company." The discussion then moved towards Mario. "I did hear briefly from Lady Emelia and overhearing your words that you had quite a more, dangerous experience then we did."

"Oh, that-a right. I don't-a know how it happened, but Luigi and-a I found ourselves in-a-the middle of a big city called Lugunica, that-a I believe is-a-the capitol of this place." Mario put his hand onto his chin and closed his eyes as he recalled his memory, "At-a first, we didn't know what to-a do, but after I learned that-a Emelia lost-a something called an insignia, Luigi and I tried to get it back for her. When found ourselves in-a place called the loot cellar, we had to-a bid for-a-the medal using a Yoshi Coin, but when we won, our opponent tried to-a attack us." Mario intentional left out the part where he returned from the dead and Elsa's deadly blade as to not worry Peach too much. "We eventually beat them, but-a-my stomach got-a cut in the process, and-a I blacked out soon after."

"Oh my, that sounds terrible." The princess only gasped behind her hand, while Toadsworth said with shock in his voice, "Whomever this violent criminal was must have been extremely powerful."

Mario shook his head in reply. "No, not-a really, it-a was just that she was using a sharp knife and not-a blunt weapon that she was-a so dangerous."

His response eased Peach, who placed her hand on her chest with relief. "Well that's good to hear, and you should be much safer here once these powerups finish growing." She turned towards the garden bed next to her, filled with a plethora of different kinds of flower based powerups all of which were out of bloom. Most appeared to be of the fire and ice variety, but Mario noticed some boomerang flowers spread throughout the green garden. "I had some powerup seeds that I wanted to give to you before Bowser attacked us at the castle, and I figured that you would find your way to Toadsworth and I, so I planted them so they would be ready for when you arrived." Peach gave a cheerful smile to Mario and held her hands together in front of her with pride.

"Wow, thank-a you so much," Mario looked behind him and looked at the other bed more closely. He noticed a two tanooki trees growing on the opposite sides of the rectangular bed, both of which were beginning to form some of its iconic leaves. The trees were shading a small group of mushrooms of differing variety. There were several super mushrooms, along with a few mini mushrooms, propeller mushrooms, and two magical one-up mushrooms hidden amongst the crowd.

Their conversation ended with a large boom coming from out in the field shook the earth beneath them. The three looked towards the field of green to see a large cloud of quickly clearing smoke, with electrical sparks flowing through it. Emelia and Puck were standing in front of the black mass, covering their faces and trying not to be blown away form a furious shockwave. "What was that!" Peach said with a worried voice.

"I don't know," Toadsworth had a nervous tone of his own, before turning towards the red Italian. "Master Mario, please go investigate what created that cloud." Mario nodded, and dashed off towards the thunderous black mass. It only took a few moments the reach Emelia's side, but by the time he made his way there, the smoke had dissipated and revealed the source of the cloud.

"Luigi!" He exclaimed, looking nervously at his dust covered brother. The front half of his body was black, except for the white in his eyes, contrasting with the rest of his face. The hair on his face was shooting out in all directions, hiding his bulbous nose and pushing his hat upwards. "What-a happened?"

Luigi didn't response, but instead let out a huge groan and fell backwards into his brothers' arms in exhaustion. It was puck who responded in place for him. "Well Emelia began her morning routine by talking to the lesser spirits," Mario nodded, knowing what lesser spirits were due to his previous life. "and while she was doing so, greenie asked me some questions about magic and the such."

"Yes, but-a that don't explain why-a-my bro's face turned blacker than-a fuzzy." His reference to the black furry creature of bowsers army confused the floating cat into a state of silence, leaving Emelia to complete his thought.

"He tried to perform a spell, but his gate was too weak, making him use much more mana then he needed." Mario's face turned into a confused frown, not knowing what a "gate" was when referring to a person; adding another thing onto the list of things he didn't know about. Emelia squatted down to become at equal height with the blackened Luigi. "Are you ok?"

"Why is-a everything trying to-a kill me?" his eyes seams to aimlessly point towards the sky, and his head wobbled about while he talked. By this time, both Peach and Toadsworth had made their way towards Luigi, joining in on the conversation. "First-a Elsa, then-a that swirly haired girl, those-a maids, even-a myself."

His comment alerted Mario, who quickly asked, "swirly haired girl?" in a concerned voice.

"I woke up in-a-the middle of-a-the night and tried to-a find you. I eventually opened up a door that-a led to-a library with some little girl with yellow swirly hair." Luigi placed his hand on his head and trembled, knocking off some the magical dust that was sitting on him, "I don't-a remember what-a she did, but it-a didn't feel good."

Emelia once again piped in and filled in some missing information. "Beatrice tampered with the mana in your gate, knocking you unconscious. That's why I asked the maids to look after you two while you rested."

"Well you don't-a have to have them do that next time. They're scarier then-a pair of hammer bros." he said, finally sitting upright on his own, brushing off some of the magical dust that covered his clothes.

Peach however innocently changed the direction of the conversation with a simple sentence. "Oh, Ram, Rem, how are you doing today." Luigi sparked up, and turned behind him, only to see the very two people he was talking about.

"Sister, Sister, our guest was talking ill about you behind your back, how distasteful."

"Rem, Rem, the green man was talking ill about you behind your back, how disgraceful."

Luigi let out a huge scream, as he bounced up into the air and darted behind his brothers back for the second time that morning.

"Sister, Sister, the green man hasn't even been here a day and has already tarnished his garments."

"Rem, Rem, it hasn't even been here ten minutes before our guest tried to hide behind his chubby brother again."

This time, Mario wasn't going to let the same comments slide and quickly fired back. "Well you should-a be nicer to-a-your guests" his hand waved back and put a barrier between them and the rest of the group. "Don't-a you know it's-a rude to insult-a people you just-a met!?"

His words silenced the maids, who looked at each other with a look of confusion and defeat. Instead of refuting him however, they simply bowed and apologized.

"Apologies Mario-sama, Rem has made a mistake and is sorry for it."

"Apologies Luigi-sama, Sister has made a mistake and feels sorry for it."

Their actions stunned the Mario brothers once again, but they had little time to process what happened before the maids turned their focus towards the rest of the group. This time, they spoke in perfect unison instead of one after another.

"We would like to announce that master Roswaal has returned to the mansion for breakfast and has requested the guests of honor to join him."

"H-Honored Guest's, who w-would-a that be?" Luigi shuddered as he spoke, quivering as he addressed the maids. They simply turned back towards the castle in response.

"That you be you two Luigi." It was Peach who answered his question, as she waltzed past the twin brothers. The rest of the group went after her, leaving the two standing in the middle of the grassy field. They exchanged a quick glance and dashed off for the rest of the group. Once they reached them, Mario took the opportunity to ask one of his many questions.

"Hey Emelia, what exactly is-a this Roswaal guy like?"

"Roswaal is, well…" the silver haired girl failed to answer his question as they progressed through the halls of the maze-like mansion.

"Quite an interesting fellow like I said before, if I may state my own opinion." Toadsworth interjected, answering the question for her. "Even from the few moments I've spent speaking with him, I have deduced that trying to define who he is as a person is like nailing water to a wall."

Puck lowered, becoming equal in height as Toadsworth. "The fungus hit that one head on, although that's putting it lightly. Luckily you two will get the chance to meet him shortly." The cats smile threw everyone off and silenced the crowd; giving Mario time to think.

The amount on things that he had just experienced was a bit overwhelming to say the least, so he decided to do a mental recap of what just happened as he walked towards the dining room. He and his brother had just helped a girl named Emelia and a spirit called Puck retrieve a medal called an insignia, something that a lot of people value for some reason. They are currently in a mansion owned by a powerful magician named Roswaal, in a foreign land called Lugunica where magic was common place. In that mansion, the only residents to his knowledge was Roswaal, Emelia, Puck, the two near identical maids Ram and Rem, and some girl named Beatrice who has messed with Luigi's 'gate'. While he was searching his mind for answers, he failed to notice his brother stop in his tracks and freeze up in front of him. Mario bumped into his younger brother, bringing him out of his thought.

"Hey Luigi, why did-a you stop." Mario looked at his face, and where it was pointed. In front of a grand wooden door that led to what appeared to be a large dining room on the left wall, a small girl in a pink outfit with two blond ponytails fashioned to be in the form of spinning drills. Her description, and Luigi's obvious fear, made it obvious of who her identity was. "You must-a be Beatrice." He said, in a curious, but nonthreatening tone.

Her dagger like eyes moved their aim away from Luigi, and towards Mario. "So, you must be the green insect's brother, I suppose."

"Insect!" To say Mario was taken back by her comment would be an understatement, as her actions left him flustered beyond belief. It was Puck who had to fill in for him.

"Now that's not very nice to say Betty." He floated in front of the two, and in front of the door. When the small girl saw the spiritual cat, her demeanor shifted to something else entirely.

"Puckie! It's so good to see you!" She bounced over to him with a childlike joy and held tightly onto his paws.

"I can tell, you're walking in the clouds right now." the two slowly made their way into the dining room and left the very confused Mario bros. behind. The two only blinked at each other, as they were left speechless, once again.

Emelia moved past them, and stopped only to say, "Because Puck and Beatrice are both spirits, so they get along very well." In a slightly embarrassed manor.

"You don't-a say." The brothers said synchronized, still staring where the two spirits were standing moments before. Afterwards, everyone made their way into the dining room. There was a large rectangular table filling up the entire room with fancy chairs lined up along the sides of it, and two large regal ones at the heads of the table. Everyone had already taken a seat by the side that was closer to west edge of the building and was filled with windows. Peach and Toadsworth sat on the other side of the table, with one seat separating them from the two spirits. Emelia was sitting right of the head of the table, with two open seats next to her. The brothers took them, Luigi being next to Emelia as to put as much distance between him and Beatrice as possible.

"I wonder what-a we are eating?" Mario said, stuffing a napkin under his shirt.

"I hope it's-a pancakes." Luigi said with a smile, laying his napkin on his lap flawlessly.

Emelia replied with a smile, saying "I'm not sure what a pancake is, but I can assure you that you will find something that pleases you."

Peach objected in a triumphant manor "I don't know, the Mario bros are tough critiques to please. I had to change my cake recipe hundreds of times to find something they enjoy."

"Weeeeell by looking at their gut's, one can see what you mean." The brothers heard a long, elegant and accentuated voice from behind them, and turned their heads to a face a tall man in a large black coat who was wearing an abundance of makeup. Mario didn't recognize him, but Luigi did from the painting that scared him from the night before.

"So you must-a be…" Luigi said skittishly.

"Roswaal L. Mathers, at your seeeeervice." His appearance was certainly strange, and his very presence attracted every eye in the room. "I'm most certainly glad that everyone could join me, even Beatrice showed up." His placed his hands on the brother's chairs and moed his gaze towards the two spirits, who were in the middle of having some form of playful, hugging party. "But that is beside the point."

Roswaal pushed his leaning self-upwards with enough force to make the two brothers wobble like a piece of Jell-O. He waltzed over to his chair and sat down at the head of the table. "IIIII'm sure you all have questions for me, as I have for you, but I think it would be better for us to discuss such matters over a meal." The wizard pulled out a small bell from his pocket, and rang it gently, filling the room with a soft ringing echo.

As if staged, the double doors at the opposite end of the room swung open on both sides and revealed the red and blue maids from before with trollies in front of them. They swiftly moved to where the meal was taking place and began to prepare the morning meal. They poured tea, passed out plates, and filled the table with a limitless supply of food. Not everything would be considered "breakfast foods," in fact most of it were meals one could find at Thanksgiving dinner, but it didn't stop the smell from causing the mouths of everyone to water.

Once they finished preparing the meal, Ram and Rem moved behind their master and waited for their master's command. "Thank you two, your work is once again beyond satisfactory." The maids did a silent bow, before he continued. "Please, heeeeelp yourselves."

Mario and Luigi took no time to dig in. They reach across the table several times, grabbing serving after serving, to the point where their plates were overflowing with food. At first nobody payed attention to them, but as the mountains started to form on the brother's plates, everyone's eyes shifted towards the two.

"My word. You two must be hungry, it's been a while sense you've had a plate that big." Toadsworth said with a bit of surprise in his voice.

Emelia, who was next to the brother's volcano of calories was constantly looking back and forth between their food and the brothers guts, of which Mario's was much larger. "You mean that they've eaten this much before!?" She exclaimed.

"That and-a more!" Mario chuckled to himself while poring himself a near overflowing bowl of soup. "Hey Luigi, could-a you pass me that-a turkey." His younger brother obliged and handed his brother a wing off of the golden glazed bird, not before taking one for himself. "Thanks bro!" Mario made a smile and took a large bite out of the meaty wing. His face didn't maintain that same joy however, and quickly went to one of neutrality.

"Hmmmmm, is something the matter? I have yet to see someone who dislikes Rem's cooking." Roswaal looked at Mario with suspicion, and the sister's looked at him with confusion.

He swallowed the food in his mouth and closed his eyes as he went into thought. "I don't-a think it's bad, in fact it's quite-a good. It's just-a little bland."

Luigi then took a bite out of his ow piece of turkey and sided with his brother. "The skin is-a little too crispy, and-a-the meat is a bit dry." He took a small bit in-between his critique. "Maybe if-a you did a slow cook instead of-a long hot-a one"

"Oh," Mario turned to his brother as if they were co-operating in their thoughts. "If-a you add some-a salt, that-a would add-a-some flavor."

"And-a-some oregano would-a go a long way too."

"I told you they were tough critics." Peach said with a smile towards Emelia, as the green Italian then took a bit out of some scrambled eggs.

"The eggs could-a be a little fluffier."

"And-a-this banana could-a sit for a little bit longer before it's-a just right."

"The tea could-a use some sugar."

"And-a-the bread is a little stale"

The words echoed into Rem's ears, lowering her confidence accumulatively with each critique. Her eyes went dim, and her body position started to lose its straight figure. She felt defeated, and her body performed a low bow.

"Rem apologizes for her failure. Rem will attempt to find something that pleases our guests in the future." Her voice was still monotone, but it didn't stop Mario from feeling any less guilty.

"Hey, don't-a beat yourself up over it. It's-a not bad, it could just-a thing here and-a there." Mario then took the bread he commented on and dipped it into a bowl of stew that was near him. After dipping the loaf into it, he took a bite and savored the flavor. "If you dip-a-the bread in the soup, it-a tastes great!" Mario's face was shining, which confused Rem when she looked at him.

"Let-a me try." Luigi took a similar piece of bread and dipped it into the bowl that Mario used. When Mario turned around, his face didn't maintain the joy it once had.

"Luigi, I wouldn't-a try that soup." But his words fell on deaf ears, as the green Italian put his hand sized piece of soggy bread into his mouth.

As he chewed, Luigi turned towards his older brother. "Your right, this-a does taste pretty…" but as the flavor settled in, he realized why Mario tried stopping him. A spicy heat started to cover his tongue, and he started panting.

"Say, what-a was in-a that soup." He looked towards Rem, who was inadvertently revealed as the chef.

She replied in the tone of voice she had used for the entire day so far. "A warm broth topped with several spices."

Luigi's eyes started to water, and he started panting in-between his words. "Spices, I don't-a do spicy." He reached for a glass of water that was sitting next to it, but instead grabbed the pitcher that was sitting behind it. He moved it to his mouth, and started chugging it with sweat dripping down his red face.

Mario, with an embarrassed expression, turned back towards Rem, only to see the blue maid was looking down with a grim face. Desperate to change the course of the discussion, he directed his attention towards Roswaal. "Hey, Roswaal was it, didn't-a-you say that there was something you wanted to talk-a-about?"

Wasting no time, the vampiric clown man put down his silverware and addressed him. "Why Yeeeeees I did. While I have not had much time to interact with her, I have had the pleasure of speaking with Peach-sama."

"Peach, sama?" Mario said with confusion in his voice.

"Yes, that is what I said. She has informed me a lot about your world, including that you don't use honorifics where you're from. It has come to my attention that you are currently unaware of the situation that currently presents itself. So, as I see it, I shaaaaaal inform you of our kingdoms predicament." The magician spread out his arms, causing his cape to flow outwardly in a wave like form. "Similar to the kingdom that the one that Peach-sama has descried to me, our kingdom is run by a single ruler, a king or queen if you will." The brothers nodded, knowing full well what a monarchy was. "But Lugunica is currently without a ruler and has become quite unstable because of it."

"Then why, doesn't-a somebody else, take control of-a-the kingdom" Luigi spoke up, panting from his inadequate spice tolerance.

"That iiiiiis what one would do in a situation like this, if there wasn't a plague that wiped out the entire royal lineage."

Both brothers drooped their heads solemnly, and it took a second before Mario spoke. "Then who will lead-a-the kingdom?"

"Well, the counsel of the wise has come up with a solution and has come up with a way to crown a new queen of the kingdom of Lugunica."

"Oh, and what-a would that be?" Luigi said curiously.

"Emelia-sama, if you would." Roswaal gestured towards the silver haired girl, who nodded calmly. She reached into the left pocket in her dress and pulled out the badge that the brothers put their lives on the line in order to retrieve.

"Hey, isn't that-a?"

"An insignia." Roswaal interrupted. "The sign of recognition for the candidacy of the throne of Lugunica."

"The throne?!" The brother's spoke simultaneously in a state of confused surprise.

"Then that-a means," Mario spoke first.

"Emelia is-a," Luigi continued.

"The forty second in line for the throne of Lugunica."

At first, the brothers sat in shock, slowly processing what had just came out of her mouth. At first, it looked like Roswaal was about to say something, but Luigi spoke up instead. "Wait, why-a forty-two?"

"Because I am not initially from any royal blood, and there are other contestants for the throne with an insignia as well."

"Other Contestants?" The brothers questioned again as they traveled down the rabbit hole that was the current conversation.

"Yeeeeees, that is the rules of the situation as it stands." Roswaal said, retaking the attention of the room. "As is tradition when crowning a new head for the throne, six unique individuals of an alternating gender from the previous election who have been blessed by the Great Dragon will be eligible for claiming the throne."

The Great Dragon. It wasn't the first time Mario had heard that word before. Perhaps it was a religious entity, and the people of this land worship it for its power or some other reason. "How do you know who is blessed by the Great-a Dragon?"

Emelia held out her hand for the brothers to look at and showed them that the gem in the center of the badge was glowing a brilliant blue. They looked in awe at its bright light that never ceased to glow.

"Ooo, Let-a me try" Luigi said, holding his hand out excitedly.

"I'm afraid that it would be dimmer then a cave if you held it," Roswaal said, causing Luigi to drop his arm in defeat, "but you shoooooouldn't have to look far if you want to see somebody else who can make the gem glow."

Everyone in the room, even the silent maids looked towards the cloaked magician with curiosity. He reached into a pocket of his own and pulled out an insignia that was almost identical to Emelia, except for the gem color, which was a clear pink. "When I first heard you say that you are the princess of a your Mushroooooom Kingdom, and a princess at that, I decided that I should test yourself and see if your blood truly is royal in more than one way." He turned towards Peach and held out his hand with the badge resting on the tips of his fingers.

She looked around the room, each face saying something different. Mario and Toadsworth were ones of hesitation, while Luigi was one of intrigue. Emelia was curious, the maids were indifferent, the spirits couldn't pay any less attention, and Roswaal was inching his long arms ever closer to her with each passing second. When she couldn't take the attention any longer, Peach gracefully took the badge, but the moment it stopped touching Roswaal's hands, the gem illuminated the room with a brilliant pink light.

"Woah." The brothers exclaimed, while Toadsworth said "Why I never," under his breath. Peach quickly put the medallion into her pocket, and the room lost its pink hue.

"Ah, I see," Roswaal said quietly, before out bursting with a sudden energy that filled the dining hall. "The sixth member has finally been found!" The room when silent for a moment, and not a soul moved, until Luigi uttered out the words 'what', and everything bolted into action. "Ram, fetch my travel ware, Rem, take care of the table, I'm off to the capitol."

What followed was a flurry of events that happened in a blink of an eye. The maids bowed and took off in two different directions. Emelia was shocked by Roswaal's sudden departure, and Toadsworth started chasing after him, waving his stick with a raging fury. Peach followed after him, curious as to what she had just walked into, and the brothers leapt out of their chairs soon after with intentions that could only be a blend of the other two guests of the Roswaal manor.

"Where do you think you're going young man?!" Toadsworth said, having a serious age gap over the wizard, "And just what did you do to the princess?!" The group continued down the halls until they arrived the front of the mansion with a circular road that looped into a path heading straight thorough the forest. It was only then when Roswaal stopped walking.

"Once I learned that Peach-sama had royal blood in her veins, I weeeeeent to the capitol to request an insignia for a potential candidate for the throne. It is now my duty to return there and report my findings with proof of the individual that has been blessed by the sacred Great Dragon." He approached Peach before he continued. "Peach-sama, as is tradition, I ask of you to accompany me on my trip to the capitol."

She entered a state of shock, and couldn't manage to utter a single word, if it weren't for Mario, they would have continued standing there for a while longer. "Hey, you can't-a do that!" He reached his arm in front of her in a defensive pose.

"Hmmmmmm, I can see why you would be suspicious of me, but I can assure you I mean no harm to her." Mario didn't budge, and only further dug his feet into the ground as Luigi took to his side. It was clear they didn't trust Roswaal and showed no sign of moving.

"Roswaal-sama, I have retrieved your wears as you asked." The brothers turned around and saw Ram holding nothing but an angular hat by the brim.

"Ah, perfect timing, I was just about to take my leave." He approached the pink maid with a waltz, all the while, his opposing group shifted their stance to face both residents of the mansion.

"Not-a with her you're not" Mario exclaimed, lunging forward and holding his fist towards the group.

The clown like wizard payed no attention to him as he took the hat out of Ram's hands. He rubbed her head, and smoothly placed the article of clothing on his head. He peered from under the hats brim and spoke in a calm yet mischievous tone. "Don't worry, weeeeee will be back before you notice a thing."

In an act of pure magical spectacle, Roswaal raised his hand a smidgen before lifting off of the ground. It took little time after that for him to rise up past the heads of all of the other spectators. The Italian twins loosened their aggressive stance and watched in awe of the wizard's abilities. Yet something didn't seem right, as if something else was missing. Mario turned around and quickly went into panic when he saw peach floating up into the sky at a near identical height as Roswaal. Her knees were bent as to stop those under her to gaze at her undergarments, not that they would want to. Her face was both shocked, and scared.

"Mario!" Peach called, accentuating the vowels in his name.

"Peach!" Mario responded in a desperate manor, he dashed to where she was standing moments before and looked up towards the sky. He crouched down, and launched himself into the air, leaping several times his own height and ascended towards the group. However, when he was only inches from her, he slowed to a halt and began to fall towards the ground. He landed right next to Luigi, who also tried jumping into the air, only to fall back to the ground in a similar fashion.

Roswaal was impress however, seeing mere humans reach such heights with a simple method as jumping, and he replied to them as the two kept up their vertical assault. "My, my, I didn't expect that at aaaaaall. Anyways, I really must be going, au revoir."

In one last ditch effort, Mario crouched down, and began to charge up one final jump. As he sat, particles of white light reminiscent of the lesser spirits that Emelia talks to began forming around him, until he released it all in one final leap. He managed to ascend even higher than before, but by the time he got up to the level that Peach was at, the two were already began floating towards the capitol far off over the horizon. He looked at the two for only a moment, Roswaal not looking back, and Peach looking deep into his eyes, before Mario came crashing down towards the ground, and landed face first into the dirt road.

"Well I cannot say that I am not impressed, you clearly show a lack of grace as you land guest-sama." Ram droned out.

However, once he plucked his nose out of the ground, Mario showed no sign of letting the wizard get away. "Luigi, we have to-a go save Peach." He said, pointing his hand up where the floating pair were heading. The younger brother nodded, and the pair started running towards the forest, and would have entered it if it weren't for another monotone comment from the pink maid.

"I don't think that heading after them would be a good idea." Despite their obvious disagreement, the twins stopped and turned themselves towards Ram. "If you plan on going after them on foot, they would have already begun their returning trip by the time you've reached the capitol."

Toadsworth then spoke up, and uncharacteristically agreed with the maid, "Even though it pains me to admit it, the speed that master Roswaal goes at is far beyond even you two can reach. I may not have experienced it myself, it took him half a day to complete a trip of a length I can only imagine would take a week by normal means."

"Are you-a sure?" Luigi said glumly, knowing that despite his opposing opinion, Toadsworth was probably correct.

"Yes," Ram responded, "It would be in your interest to wait the two days or so that they will take. Plus, traveling through the forest would be a very bad idea for even the most experienced of warriors."

The change of subject came curiously to the brothers, who followed on her comment with an obvious question. "Why, is-a there something in the forest that-a we should-a know about?" Mario asked for the two of them.

"Unless you wish to be eaten by a mabeast then I suggest that you avoid entering the forest at all costs."

"Mabeast?! What-a is-a mabeast?" Luigi said startled by what she said but received only silence as an answer. Instead, Ram turned and headed back into the mansion, followed by the three Mushroom Kingdom residents. They asked repeatedly similar questions, but never once got an answer. She kept on walking down the endless halls, passing by hundreds of doors that would take days to learn the use of each specific one. Eventually, Ram stopped in the middle of a hallway that was just like the rest, and inadvertently silenced the two brothers.

"The red one's room will be over here," Ram said pointing to a room to her direct right, "and the green one's room will be over there," she said pointing to the room to her direct left. "What you do while you stay here is not of any importance to me, as long as you don't interfere with Rem or Ram's work and avoid disturbing Emelia-sama's studies." Ram began to continue walking down the hall but was stopped by another question from Luigi.

"But you never-a said what-a was a mabeast?"

Ram waited for a moment before giving a mischievous smile towards him. "If you would like, I will invite Beatrice-san to explain it to you."

Her words echoed into his ears and cause him to start quivering with fear. "U-uh I'm-a going to a go into-a-my room," and just like he said, Luigi dashed into his new bedroom with a large slam on the door. The scene made Ram giggle, before leaving Mario and Toadsworth to their own devices.

The elder mushroom sighed before giving a piece of advice to the elder brother. "I suggest you go into your new quarters, for all we know, this may be our new home for a while." Mario nodded to him and watched Toadsworth disappear into a room of his own, and soon after he went into a room of his own.

* * *

Hello. I am the Author of this FanFiction, and I wanted to say a couple things too all readers, but especially current ones. I know the upload time is long, especially from the last chapter to this one, but life has become a lot busier and I want to make sure that my time is used in the right places, making my writing time few and far between. I hope you can accept that and be patient with me as I work on whatever the next chapter will be.

That said, I wanted to start a new thing where I can post some things about the previous chapters and respond to all of my readers at once and address any questions that are from the previous chapter. If there is anything you would like to ask, please leave a comment on the previous chapter, and I will try and respond to it to the best of my knowledge.

Because this is my first time doing this, and I have no questions, so I will just let you know where this story is going to be heading. For the most part, the plot will be following the MAIN events, up until the whale fight, in which events will start to deviate heavily from the main story. In this story, I want to focus heavily on the Mario aspects, and the mental aspects of every character that appears in the story. A double M if you will. While Mario may be light hearted, I plan on seeing how far one can push a man such as him before he breaks entirely, as well as other characters in the story. I hope that you will enjoy what is to come, and I will see you in the Future.

T.


	7. Chapter 7: Mayhem at the Mansion

Chapter 7: Mayhem at the Mansion

The wooden door opened softly as Mario pushed it open to enter his new room. The things that inhabited the space was similar to the room he woke up in, but with a humbler theme in its décor, something that pleased Mario greatly. There was a twin sized bed on the left side of the room, a nightstand adjacent to it, a desk facing the bed on the opposite end of the room, with a chair underneath it. He stepped into the room, looking about and taking in the feel and smell of the room.

In this process, Mario's eye caught onto something bright red that was sitting on his bed; contrasting with the color of the room. It was his outfit, with his hat resting on the top of the stack of clothes, with his tool belt and shoes resting beside the pile. Mario approached it and held out the hat in his hands smiling happily. In a blur of motion, Mario exchanged his outfit from the nightgown to his normal attire by sliding on shoes, overalls, shirt, and socks in a spectacle of motion. Lastly, he took his hat and placed it firmly on is head.

"Ah, there we go." He said, resting his hands on his hips before sitting on the bed and kicking his feet back and forth in a playful manner. Mario looked around the room, realizing that he had no plan for what he should do next. Peach was gone, and Toadsworth is probably unhappy about that happening as well; Nobody aside from Emelia is willing to talk, and Luigi is terrified of every new face he has come across.

The last one stuck out to him and reminded Mario of the person that apparently did something harmful to his brother. Beatrice. Curious as to why, and what a gate is in terms of it being a part of a person, Mario hopped up and headed towards the door. As he pulled the door handle down, he thought about her striking appearance and questioned where he might find her. As he looked forward, Mario expected to see the open hallway, but instead found himself face to face with a large regal library.

Mario was not only confused by the strange appearance of the room but was even more baffled by what he saw in the room. In-between two large bookcases was a fluffy bed similar to the one he woke up in, but with the two spirits cuddling on top of it. both of them noticed his presence as soon as the door opened, which Mario wasn't sure to be thankful for or worried because of it.

However, Mario didn't get a chance to speak before Beatrice addressed him in an agitated manner. "How is it that both of them managed to find their way into my chambers, I wonder?"

"Why is-a-your room a library?" he asked consequently.

Beatrice was about to speak, but puck floated in front of her and responded by saying, "Because she is the guardian of this room and of all of its knowledge."

"Guardian?" Mario asked, quite curious as to what he meant.

"Roswaal being the twelve descendent in a long line of magicians, he has come to accumulate a large quantity of knowledge for his eyes alone, and because of this, he needs to have this knowledge protected at all times." Mario nodded along, understanding his meaning. "So, it is in Beatrice's contract to protect this place under the service of the Mathers lineage."

Mario's mind instantly went off rails after the last sentence, and he subsequently blurted out the word that confused him. "Contract? What-a do you mean by-a that?"

"Only an idiot wouldn't know what a spirit contract is," Beatrice said frustrated, sliding off of the bed and onto the floor. "It's the thing that gives a spirit its power and physical form, and if they break a contract they would return to their original form, I suppose." Although slightly insulted, Mario nodded in a slight comprehension of her meaning.

"I think-a I get it," he said in a curious tone.

"Good." She said in an aggressive response, "Now leave Beatrice and Puckie alone."

Mario nodded, and started turning for the door before he remembered the reason, he came into the room in the first place. "Hey, a wait-a-minute!" The small spirit girl mumbled to herself as Mario approached her. "What-a did-a you do to my brother to make-a him so scared of you?"

"Your accent annoys Betty." She replied menacingly with her back turned against him.

Mario looked at her unfazed by her rude comment, before turning towards Puck instead. He didn't have to say anything to the spirit for Puck to get the message.

"Last night, your brother wandered into here and got on Beatrice's nerves, and in response, she drained the mana in his body." Once again, Mario heard a term he didn't quite understand.

"What is-a mana?"

"How does he not know what mana is, was he dropped from the sky as a child? I suppose?" Beatrice said flinging her hands in the air.

Puck and Mario ignored the small girl, despite Mario knowing that her comment wasn't entirely wrong. "Mana is the thing that makes up all living things, and the lifeforce of somebody is related to the mana in their body." At first, he didn't fully understand what that meant, but Mario quickly interpreted Puck's definition into meaning.

"Wait, What!" Mario exclaimed, hopping off of the floor and turning his gaze towards the girl in front of him.

"I only interfered with his mana Puckie, I suppose." Beatrice's attempt at avoiding Mario's obvious aggression fell flat, as he leaned in angrily towards her. She turned towards the mustached man and saw a furious look reside in his eyes. At first, she thought nothing of it, but it quickly became clear that it would take more than a snarky comment to stop his aggression.

Her thoughts were quickly answered when Mario replied with, "You tried to-a kill my bro. Who do you think-a you are?" his hands twitched as he spoke, and his voice was like that of an enraged knight, holding back his aggression by his better judgment.

Seeing as the situation wasn't improving, Beatrice moved her hand upward onto Mario's chest, which sparked a similar reaction of confusion with Mario as when she did the same thing to his brother. "I guess you need harsher treatment, I suppose."

"Eh, what are-a you doing!?" The last word Mario said was exclaimed from the sudden pain that was entering his body. His legs twitched, and his arms flailed as Beatrice absorbed the mana from his body. However, as she did Beatrice couldn't help but notice that Mario's mana was significantly stronger than most humans. She felt it slightly before when she tampered with Luigi's life force, but after absorbing the mana when she was well rested, she could feel every ounce of energy that resided in the red Italians being. The mana was richer as if it came from a spirit or a higher being than one on the mortal plane. While she was 'studying' Mario's essence, she almost didn't feel the movement coming from him. She looked up and noticed that in an act of desperation, Mario was winding up a punch aimed at her face. She panicked, went to guard her body, releasing Mario from her magical attack. Her attempt didn't stop him though, and Mario launched his fist directly at Beatrice. On contact, a force greater than a semi-truck to the face met her small and fragile body and sent it flying across the room. She was sent through three bookcases, splitting them straight down the middle and scattered pages of knowledge across the room in the process, Beatrice decimated the bed that she and Puck were sitting on, and left a decent mark in the side of the wall at the complete opposite side of the room. Mario himself fell to his knees from weakness, but quickly noticed his actions and went into a state of panic.

"Oh my! I didn't-a mean to-a do that! Are you ok?

Beatrice on the other hand, who was turning towards Mario with a bruise on her forehead, showed much less sympathy. At the wave of her hand, the door behind Mario opened up into a hallway with windows on the other side. Outside of the room Ram was cleaning the windows but was now looking inside of the hidden library. Mario himself looked behind him but quickly turned back to address the small spirit.

"Hey, what are-a you are doing?" He said in a confused, yet frantic voice. His answer, however, was given to him cryptically to the floating cat who was still sitting on the bed.

"Hope to see ya soon!" the floating feline commented cryptically, doing nothing more than putting Mario on edge. He moved his gaze back to Beatrice, only to feel a gust of wind pound into his body, sending him flying backward out of the room. Ram, who foresaw what was going to happen, opened the window so that the human-sized projectile wouldn't shatter the fragile glass. Mario was shot outside of the building, and only then did the magical force that was propelling him stop. He then started falling downwards, letting out a frightened scream as he went. When he finally hit the ground, he landed in a fluffy bush that was growing in a rectangular flowerbed. Leaves scattered everywhere from the impact, and a loud thud emanated from the fertile ground. Mario eventually sat up, with a crooked hat and dirt scattered across his face and denim overalls.

"Oh, my head…" he groaned with his hand on head, still neck deep in foliage. "Got to-a remember not to-a do that again." Mario slowly crawled out of the bush and set himself back onto his feet. He straightened his cap and attempted to bush off the dirt on his clothing, but did nothing more than spread the dirt onto his white gloves. He sighed, "Mama-Mia…" and started to make his way back into the building.

* * *

For a short while, Mario wandered around the empty halls with a soft echo every time he took a step. If it were Peach's castle, then there would have been workers going every which way in a constant state of slightly frantic work. However, Mario had only seen two figures tending to the state of the mansion in the form of the young twins Ram and Rem. There had to be someone else working as there was no human being capable of running such an operation, even if they did have elemental magic. But the lack of workers would explain why the two were chefs, waiters, cleaners, along with other things. Mario thought of the many things he and his brothers were adept at, but he felt more pity then pride for someone at such a young age doing laborious tasks. He didn't know how young they were, and even though he was only in his early twenties, it still made him feel guilty regardless.

Eventually, Mario heard what sounded like banging metal and the voice of his brother. Intrigued, he started jogging towards the source of the sound. As he got closer, the sounds grew to become increasingly louder until the point where he could point out which room the activity was coming from. Mario skidded to a stop in front of the double doors that was separating him and the sounds of his brother, who's panicking voice was seeping out from the small crack under the doors. He took in a deep breath and pushed the doors open.

Inside was what appeared to be a kitchen, despite being mostly wooden and not the traditional marble white color that he is used to. The room was well lit from two grand open windows, and it smelt like a mixture of a French, Italian, and Spanish bakery with spices meets and a pleasant bread filling the room. This distraction from this, however, was the lanky green man running around in a panic. Luigi was moving around a large rectangular counter sitting in the middle of the room with a bowl in his hands that seemed to be burnt. Along with that, a small fire was lit inside of what appeared to be a stove on the left side of the room, which seemed to have just started. Luigi's quickly took notice of his older brother and let out a cry for help.

"Mario! Help-a me!"

Mario, who had started running towards a pile of towels on the opposite side, replied slightly shocked with "Mama-Mia, What-a happened!?"

"I was-a trying to cook a bowl of-a spaghetti, I was-a hungry!" He then made with way towards a small bin assuming it was a trash can and dumped his failed dough into it.

"Well, what-a happened?" Mario grabbed a towel and was making his way to what he thought to be a sink.

Luigi then started following his brother, hoping to help where he could. "I tried to-a use the stove, and when I put-a-the dough in the stove, it just-a turned on and I couldn't turn it off because there were-a no buttons!"

Mario reached into the sink and placed the towel inside of the stainless metal bucket and instinctively reached for the handle, only to notice there were none. Luckily, a wooden bucket was sitting next to it. It had some bubbles in it, but it would have to do. Leaving the towels in the sink, Mario grabbed the bucket and made his way face to face with the flaming stove. The fire had grown slightly from before, but it still seemed containable. Mario leaned back and threw the water forward, gripping the bucket tightly. The water flew onto the roaring flame, dousing it into slight vapor.

Sweat dripped down his face, as Mario panted with a sigh of relief. Luigi made his way over behind his brother and made a comment that Mario chuckle. "Well, it could have-a been worse."

"Don't-a jinx it." Mario smiled back. Yet that smile quickly melted away as the fire in the stove lit back up, bigger and hotter than before, rising up even higher than before. It lit the cupboard above on fire and set the nearby ones on fire as well. Mario and Luigi quickly grabbed each other tightly and started screaming in terror. The fire seemed to slowly approach them until a gust of wind flew past them and encircled the flames. At first, the fire seemed to fight back, but it seen quelled down and escaped back into the stove, which had its door shut behind it. The danger disappeared faster than it started.

The brothers stared blankly at the stove, only to turn backward at the sound of a woman's monotone insult. "It appears that you haven't even been here for a full day before causing trouble" the two brothers looked behind them and saw Ram standing at the doorway with her arms crossed. Her blank eyes seemed cruller than normal.

Luigi didn't want to speak, so Mario addressed the red maid first. "It was an accident, he didn't-a know how to use-a-the stove."

"Only an idiot wouldn't know how to use a crystal stove." She made her way towards the two but kept her eyes locked onto Mario's, and Ram only continued when she was well within arms distance of the red Italian, and despite her full and youthful eyes, they were extra intimidating. "Your incompetence is astounding."

Mario leaned back a little and responded in a pitch slightly higher than normal. "Well, we didn't-a mean to-a do that, and it's-a fine, the fire is-a gone."

Ram fired right back with an observation of her own. "So is the food in the cupboards." Ram then turned around and started walking out of the room. As she went, Mario and Luigi looked above the stove to see where the wooden container once stood, only to see what appeared to be a burnt shelf hanging to the wall by only a few nails.

"Wait, where are-a-you going?" Mario said as he dashed after the small maid.

"Seeing as you have effectively burnt all of the fruit in the kitchen, Ram is going to the village to buy some more after I finish the rest of my required housework."

Mario stopped outside of the room watching Ram disappear down the endless hallway, and feeling a bit guilty, he attempted to fix his brother's mistake. "We can-a get-a-the things you need."

Ram stopped for a moment, and without making eye contact, she responded with another question. "I assume you know what to buy from the village then, despite not ever being there."

Luigi joined his brother out in the hall but hadn't opened his mouth due to his fear of the small girl and instead just let his brother keep talking. "Well if you give us-a list I'm-a sure we can-a get what you need."

Ram stood silent for a short while. "It's about time you two made yourselves useful." Mario and Luigi were confused and looked at each other only to realize the other knew as little as they did. The brothers looked forward again and saw Ram standing right in front of them again with her arm held out with a list in hand.

"How did-a you make that so fast?" Luigi said confused.

Upon hearing this, Ram smiled at the two for the first time. "A maid must always be prepared." Mario, still slightly shocked, took to the small paper out of her hands and looked down at it. Luigi also looked over his brother's shoulders to see the paper, only to be unpleasantly surprised. The list was in the native language, which neither of the two knew how to read.

"Hey Ram, we don't-a know how to-a." Mario's voice fell on deaf ears as the red maid had disappeared from the scene without a trace.

"Where did-a she go?" Luigi replied concerned.

"I don't-a know," Mario said as he stuffed the parchment into his pockets, "And I don't-a think we will-a find her if we look for her. Come on, let's-a get this over with." Mario then started down the hallway that led to the outside of the building with his brother chasing him from behind.

* * *

It was around midday and the brothers were still walking down the long dirt road that led away from Roswaal's mansion. The quality of the pathway seemed to become progressively worse the farther down they went. The weather was however quite cool for it being a sunny day, which helped with the long travel. Luigi pointed out that there were glowing green torchlight was attached to the trees that were lining the roads, while Mario noticed the frequency of the lights of one every ten meters or so. It was after around thirty minutes of walking that they noticed that one of the lights was unlit.

"Hey Mario, look. That-a light is not-a lit." The green Italian was pointing at one of the numerous metal light containers. Intrigued, Mario decided to look closer at the light post, noticing that it was a lantern hanging from a nail halfway into the tree. He jumped up and grabbed the light container off of its metal post and looked inside. There wasn't anything in it, aside from what appeared to be an open slot that would hold a candle of some sort in the middle of the metal base.

"Huh, that's-a strange." Mario questioned as he turned to face his brother, "there isn't anything in-a here." Mario tossed it to his brother to hold, who almost dropped it upon catching it. Mario went back to inspect one of the lanterns with the green glow emanating from it to compare the two. He jumped up and retrieved the other lantern the same way that he did before. When he held it in his hands, a glow illuminated Mario's face, and blinded him for a moment. Once his eyes adjusted, he noticed that a small gem that looked like the mixture of the mineral form of an Emerald and the purified gem. He then leaped back up to the tree and hooked it back to where it belonged.

Luigi noticed the concerned expression on his brothers face, and asked: "What is-a-the issue?"

"It seems that-a something missing in-a-those lanterns." The two stared at the light emanating from the torch feeling as though the missing gem was something of great concern. "Come on, the town should-a be just around-a-the corner." Mario waved his hand, and the two continued down the pathway. However, the farther they went, the more lanterns were missing the green gems. At first, every few lanterns would be missing a gem, but it soon changed to a pattern of every few lanterns having a gem. It was another ten minutes or so when Mario spoke up again.

"Hey Luigi, Look!" Mario's hand pointed forward, and his brother's eyes moved to see what he had noticed. Some smoke was rising over the horizon out of a small wooden cottage. There were about three houses similar in style at the end of the road. It was the village.

"Yippy!" Luigi cried in joy as he sparked up and started dashing towards their destination. Mario was slightly shocked by his brother's sudden burst of energy, and it took him a moment before he started running after him.

"Wha? Hey, wait up!" Mario quickly took after his brother who was already a fair bit always. They dashed towards the small town, kicking up white smoke and dust particles as they went. As they approached the village, people started to come into view. Luigi being the first to see them threw his arms up in celebration.

"Look, Mario, we finally made it!" His eyes were closed as he proclaimed his small accomplishment, so when a small rock was sitting on the ground, the green Italian failed to notice it. The tip of Luigi's foot hit the rock just enough to throw the clumsy man off balance. His body flopped forward as his hands stuck out to catch himself, only to end up into a ball rolling on the ground at tremendous speed. Nearby townsfolk stopped what they were working on to see a speeding green ball rolling through the village, as a small red mustached man chased after it. People were jumping out of the road to avoid becoming the target of the speeding ball racing through the village. Mario, who was slowly falling behind his brother, apologized to those he ran past, only for them to either yell at him or give him a strange look. As they started to exit the main section of the town, Mario looked up and saw a large group of children huddled around in a semi-circle, blissfully unaware of what was heading their way. Without a second thought, he yelled at the group of children as he continued chasing after his runaway brother.

"Hey, look out-a!" Whether it was his foreign Italian accent or the fact that he was yelling, the children looked in Mario's direction with curiosity. They saw Mario waving his hands in the air, and Luigi rolling towards them, letting out a small, scattered scream of concern as he went. All of them stopped what they were doing and ran out of the way of Luigi, who then rolled past them into a large tree. Upon impact, a large thud emanated from the point of contact, and the tree moved back a little. Luigi then flopped off of the tree and started stumbling about, before falling into a seated position on the ground while his head was spinning dizzily.

"Mama-Mia." Luigi was now holding his head to steady it, and one could almost see birds flying around in circles above his head. "I didn't-a see that coming." Mario skidded to a stop once he reached his brother, panting slightly as he put his hand on his brothers' shoulder.

"Luigi, what-a happened?"

He chuckled a little before continuing. "I uh, I tripped on-a rock." Mario looked at his brother and sighed, and one could almost see the embarrassment on Luigi's face until a small voice came from behind the two pulled their attention away.

"Um, excuse me." Behind the Mario Bros was the small group of children that they almost trampled earlier. The one speaking was a small boy with a scarf and red hair in a spiky ponytail. He was high pitched and couldn't be older than ten years old. The kid seemed a bit scared off by the two, and understandably so due to their sudden introduction. "Who are you?"

Before they could answer, a chubbier kid with a buzz cut piped in abruptly. "Yeah, and why did you try to run into us." The other kids agreed unanimously with him.

Mario responded while scratching the back of his head, shifting his hat slightly. "I'm-a sorry about that, my bro is-a bit-a clumsy. I'm-a Mario, and this is-a-my brother Luigi, nice to-a meet you." He said as he extended out his hand, but nobody took it.

The first one to respond was the red-haired kid in a snarky tone. "Why do you sound so funny." Instead of Mario, a small blond girl with a pink bow in her hair responded to her friend.

"I heard that people sound differently from where they come from!" She then turned to face Mario. "Where are you from?"

Luigi, after brushing some dust off of his pants decided to jump into the conversation instead of leaving it all to his brother. "We are-a from-a-the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Mushroom Kingdom?" the chubby kid replied, "I've never heard of that before."

The other kids were more intrigued by what Luigi had to say, and the eyes of the little girl with the pink bow light up with excitement. "Mushroom Kingdom, what is it like there!"

"It's-a far off land that is filled with endless fields of grass, mushrooms that reach into the sky, and warp pipes that can take you anywhere you can imagine!" The children drew closer, and the skeptical one showed intrigue. "All kinds of people live there! There are the Toads who are-a the main residence"

"Oh, I saw one of those people yesterday, they are like little mushroom people!"

"Yes, and there are others like-a-the Yoshi's, and-a-the Bean Bean people, but there is also the evil Koopa troop, Goomba's, and others who do all kinds of evil things."

"Wow!" The little girl said gleefully, "It must be very dangerous there, you guys must be very strong."

Luigi puffed out his chest with pride upon hearing this. "We are, we are-a-the Super Mario Brothers! Heroes of-a-the Mushroom Kingdom"

Despite the heightened volume that Luigi was speaking at, the attention shifted from towards Mario, who let out a scream of pain. While his brother was talking, it appeared that Mario was introducing himself to another child from the village, a small girl with a long dress and a braided ponytail that reaches past her chest. She was holding a small brown puppy, who bit straight into Mario's hand. He began shaking his hand up and down furiously in an attempt to make the puppy release his grip, but it was to no avail. Luigi went into a state of panic, and screamed out his brother's name out of fear, as the two boys that he was talking to started to laugh at the irony of the situation.

"Mario!" Luigi rushed over to his brother's aid. "What-a happened!"

Instead of his brother, it was the girl who owned the young dog who spoke up. "I'm sorry, he doesn't normally bite people." Once she said this, the small dog let go of Mario's hand and ran back to his owner.

"Mama-Mia, that-a pooch packs quite a punch!" Mario said as he tried to make the pain go away by rubbing his hand after falling onto the ground. There were two puncture wounds in his glove, which were slowly turning into a slight pink color from blood seeping out of his hand and into the cloth.

The girl with the pink bow ran up to them to the brothers slightly concerned. "Are you two ok?" Her eyes were dilated, and a worried expression was present on her face. Mario then smiled in response.

"Don't-a worry, I'm-a fine."

The girl looked behind her, and the two boys that she was with were trying to hide their laughter. When she turned back to face Mario, she looked a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry my friends were laughing at you Mario-sama."

Luigi looked at the two boys with as much as a fierce look he could make, but it didn't accomplish much. Mario however, completely disregarded them and continued talking with the little girl. "It's-a fine. I don't-a care if-a they laugh at me, and if they do, at-a least they are-a happy." Mario stood up before continuing. "So hey, forget-a-bout it. Hey Luigi," He said while looking at his brother, who quickly snapped out of his angered state. "You want to-a-go get-a-the stuff on-a this-a list." Mario took the paper out of his pocket, and Luigi Nodded in response. The two waved their goodbye and headed back into town.

* * *

The sun was setting slowly over the horizon and the world was surrounded with a golden glow. The Mario brothers were making their way back towards the mansion after a day's work that took more time than what was desired.

"For only a few residents, this is-a lot of-a food." Luigi was carrying a small crate filled with a variety of different food items. It was a bit awkward to hold, as the size of the crate and the food filling it to the top didn't make transporting it easy.

"Easy for you too-a say, this is-a way too much wood for a single cabinet." Mario had wooden planks pilled upon his left shoulder, reaching way past his head. Neither of their purchases was too heavy for them, but just uncomfortable. Roswaal's mansion wasn't much farther over the horizon, and the two continued on until they were just a few meters away from the front door. Mario, whose eyes weren't being covered by a pile of food, saw somebody standing before the giant house.

"Hey Luigi, I think-a somebody is-a standing in front of-a-the mansion." His brother shifted his body to the side allowing his head to look in front of him. Luigi squinted his eyes and eventually made out a purple and whitish silhouette in the shape of a person.

"I think that is-a Emelia" Mario himself tried looking closer and came to the same conclusion.

"Come on, let's-a go see what she is-a doing." Mario picked up his pace just enough to make sure that his brother wouldn't trip from going to fast and they made their way towards her. Once they were within a few meters of the mansion, Emelia noticed them and made her way towards them.

"Mario, Luigi, where have you been all day?" Her face was one of concern and she sounded worried.

"Luigi wanted to-a make spaghetti," Mario said in a monotone voice.

"Then I kind-of-a burned down one of the food cabinets in-a-the kitchen." Luigi tried to laugh through recalling his past mistake, but it didn't make him feel much better.

"So Ram gave us-a list of what we should get at-a-the village, but we didn't know how to-a read it, so it took us forever to figure out what we needed." Mario sighed, before taking out the list form his pocket while keeping the wood suspended above him. Emelia took it out of his hand and looked at it slightly annoyed. "Luckily one of the children from-a-the village helped us with it."

"But, you two are guests, you saved me, you shouldn't have to this kind of work." Emelia almost looked like she was betrayed by someone. Mario simply brushed it off.

"It's-a fine, besides, Ram already had-a lot of-a work to-a do, and because we made-a-the mess, we should-a take care of it." Mario looked Emelia in the eye. "So hey, forget-a-bout it." Mario walked past her, and made his way towards the door, as Luigi followed. Mario opened the door slightly and pushed it open the rest of the way with his foot. The two disappeared into the darkening mansion, leaving Emelia alone to her own thoughts.

It was late and the sun had almost set over the horizon. The sky was a deep purple, yet despite this, Mario was wide awake. It was like night had come earlier here, or as if it were a winter month without snow or the nipping cold. Whatever the reason, Mario was wide awake in his room staring through a window looking at the sky. The question of how he could get home was still without an answer, and even more pressing was his strange death ability. How could somebody come back to life at a previous point? Does the point of restarting move forward at some point or another, or does it stay permanent, which would mean Mario would always come back to life in front of the fruit stand should he meet his untimely demise? Does anyone else know about it, or it is just a rare occurrence? Mario grabbed his head in frustration unsure as to what he should do next until a faint nose came from his door.

"Coming." Mario sat up from the chair that came with his room and made his way to the large doors that formed the entrance. He opened it and saw Ram standing in behind it starring directly at him. Her presence came as a surprise, and even though he knew that it wasn't Luigi based on the way he knocks on a door, it surprised him none the less. "Ram, what are-a you are doing here?"

"Emelia," Ram said nothing more as she pushed past Mario into his new room. She was carrying a few books, an ink bottle and quill, several pieces of parchment, and placed them all on top of his desk. "Emelia has commanded that I teach you how to read and write, so please make your way over here so I may teach you."

Mario thought as to why Emelia would want to have him learn the language, and he came to the conclusion that it was because Luigi and he couldn't manage to buy items off of a simple list without help from a child. "Hey, you don't-a need to-a do this, I'm sure you have other things you need to-a take care of, and I'm sure I can figure it out on-a my own. If you don't-a want to-a do this, you don't-a have to."

Ram waved her hand sassily at Mario as she replied to the red Italian "I fail to see how you think I have a choice in this matter. It is a maid's duty to fulfill any of her master's wishes and seeing as Emelia has superiority over me, I must teach you how to read and write." She approached Mario, and came within inches of his face, making him instinctively back up. "So, if we could get started now, that would be best for the both of us." Mario nodded and made his way to the desk and pulled in his chair to sit down. He didn't feel comfortable, mostly because of the prospect of somebody being forced to tend to his needs, but it wasn't like he had much say in the matter.

Mario set his desk out neatly, with the books near his top left, with his ink bottle and quill to his top right. The paper was set neatly to his left in a stack, with one of them sitting directly in front of him. Once he was ready, Ram gave him his first task. "Now, go ahead and write out your name." Mario nodded, and gently picked up the quill and wrote his name in English.

 _Mario Jumpman Mario_

"Now is not the time for doodling Mario-sama." Mario looked surprised, as what wrote was what he would write since he was a small child.

"What-a do you-a mean?" Mario whined irritatedly.

"It appears you know absolutely nothing of this language. How pitiful" She reached over and picked up the top two books. She began by holding out the first one, "This is a dictionary for the I tense, as it should be simple enough for somebody of your capabilities. I don't think your excuse of a brother will be able to, however." The last part was mumbled, but Mario heard it anyway.

"Hey! Don't-a you dare insult-a my bro when you don't-a know anything about him! He's-a more dependable than most people could ever dream of being."

"Too bad that isn't a problem for me."

"Huh?" Mario replied confused.

"Nothing. Now if we can get going now it would be better for both of us. I'm tired and need my beauty sleep."

After a brief moment of silence, Mario nodded and turned his attention back to the page in front of him. While the process of learning a language is slow, Mario was able to make quick work of the content given to him. Even Ram was impressed by the speed at which Mario was able to complete a task he was seemingly unable to perform before. After a few hours of lecturing and scolding from Ram, Mario managed to learn the I-tense in the native language, and once he finished writing a page full of different characters that were like a strange combination of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally, that's it." He placed the quill back in its glass container, which was now deprived of ink. A small clinking noise emanated from the glass but fell on deaf ears. Mario turned towards his bed, where Ram was sitting during the majority of the lecture. "Hey Ram, I think I've-a got this." However, when he turned around, all the reply that we were given was the silent steering of Ram in her sleep.

Mario sighed again, but this one was filled with more disappointment instead of joy. "Mama-Mia, guess you were-a more tired than I was." Mario stood up from his seat and moved to the edge of the bed. Ram wasn't waking up anything soon, and Mario didn't want to bother trying. He looked at the door, which was still open, and decided that he could take her to her room. Mario picked up the small red maid in bridal position, which was something he wasn't new too. She was also lighter than Peach, so moving her was no trouble at all. Walking gently, he made his way out into the dark hallway, which unlike his room wasn't illuminated with an oil lamp or a magical one at least. He looked both ways and realized that finding out which room belonged to Ram.

"Oh man, this is-a going to-a be harder than I thought." He whispered to himself. He looked again and turned back to his room thinking that she could just sleep in his room for a night, but instead he saw Rem standing behind him. Her sudden presence caused him to jump, but he managed to keep his yelp at a lower volume.

"Rem, what are-a you doing this late."

"Taking care of the mess Luigi-sama made" Rem's voice was quiet, yet sharp.

Mario's face went red in response, "hehe, sorry about-a that."

"What is it that Mario-sama plans on doing with sister." Her eyes were cold and unforgiving, almost as if she was warning Mario about what his response should be.

"Well, Ram was-a teaching me how to-a read and-a write, but-a she fell asleep in-a -my room, so I thought that I could-a take her to-a her room, but I don't-a know which one it is." He smiled, trying to make the situation better. Rem didn't change her expression and continued to stair Mario down with her large and full blue eyes. Rem sniffed the air, and after attempting to hide a disgusted expression, she responded to his reply.

"Are honored guest shouldn't have to worry himself about such things. Leave it to Rem." She held out her arms but stayed emotionless. Mario silently placed the sleeping Ram into her twins' arms. "Goodnight Mario-sama." As Rem walked into the cold darkness, Mario made his way back into his room. Before going to sleep, he went over to the small lamp on his desk and flipped a switch on its side to turn it off. He then went into his bed and drifted off to sleep, not before coming to the conclusion that he should probably try and find the bathroom the next day, assuming that Rem was disturbed by the smell of all of his miscellaneous adventures.

* * *

Luigi was in his bed sleeping peacefully, and even though he is an easy sleeper, he was especially tired out from a long day of stress and unusual events. That was until he was shook awake in the middle of the night. His eyes were groggy, and his hearing wasn't working perfectly, but he was able to make out the blurry color of red and blue in front of him, and a voice that sounded vaguely like his brother. Despite not wanting to be woken up, Luigi sat up knowing that Mario should hopefully have a good reason for doing something like this. He let out a long yawn and rubbed his eyes as he tried to wake himself up.

"Mario, what-a is it, and-a why are-a you up so late?"

"Luigi! We need to get out of-a here right-a now!" Mario's voice was filled with terror, and it speeds up the process for Luigi to reawaken. He looked at his brother, and soon realized the reason for Mario's worry. Mario was standing on the bed half of his normal size. It was the effect of the Magic Mushroom, as it allows those to survive a fatal or life-threatening attack. After the encounter with Elsa, Luigi gave him a Magic Mushroom, and for some reason, it activated. The sudden realization snapped Luigi out of his dazed state.

"Mario, What-a happened?!"

"I don't-a know, somebody must have-a tried to-a attack me, but probably didn't-a finish their job! We need to-a warn the others!" Mario jumped off of the bed, reaching high up into the air, before landing on the ground with a soft thud. He turned around and watched his brother toss the covers to his side and slid out off of the mattress. The two bursts through the doorway and looked to their right. "Toadsworth is-a that-a-way, we should-a go get-a him first." Mario said with a determined look on his face, and Luigi nodded, and the two started to walk down the hallway until the heard something come from behind them.

The sounds of clashing chains screamed from the darkness, causing the pair to freeze in place, only to look behind them and see a sea of pitch blackness. The sound moaned out again from the other end of the hallway, instilling fear in the brothers. It was as if the source of the noise was moving.

"M-Mario, what-a is-a that-a n-noise?" Luigi began to shiver as he looked in the direction that the sound more recently came from, while his brother stood in a defensive stance facing the opposite direction.

"I don't-a know, but it-a doesn't sound good." Once more, a metallic thud came from one end of the hallway, causing both of them to turn back towards where they originally came from. But to their surprise, the first place that they were attacked from was behind. A speeding blur was directed directly at Mario's body, which was now more of a sphere than a vertical oval due to the effects of the Magic Mushroom. In a flash, Mario swung his hammer from behind him and knocked the weapon to the southern wall, and despite being half of his normal size, he still didn't struggle to maneuver his mallet. The weapon that was thrown at them was a large morning star, about the size of Mario currently. It sent shivers down Luigi's spine and put Mario more on edge.

After a moment, the large metal ball was pulled back into the darkness, only to end up being swung at them from above. It crashed through a wooden support beam, and almost hit the two directly, but they both dodged out of the way. The ball quickly moved to the side and slammed Mario against the wall. He let out a scream of pain, as one of the spikes punctured his left shoulder. He fell to the ground once the ball dashed back into the darkness. Luigi moved over to his brother and crouched next to him.

"Mario!" His voice was fearful.

"I'm-a fine, don't-a worry." Mario was holding his shoulder tightly, and he winced a little. While they were talking, Mario noticed what appeared to be a figure jumping over them to the other end of the hallway. Mario took the time to warn his brother. "Luigi, to-a-your left."

Luigi looked to his side and moved to the middle of the hallway. He dawned his hammer, readied himself. Like before, the speeding morning star was launched towards Luigi, who countered it with a blow of his hammer. After getting knocked down, it launched itself towards Luigi twice more, and he blocked it both times. However, the hilt of his weapon was exposed, and a speeding spear of ice was sent straight into the wooden beam, breaking Luigi's weapon. Stunned by what happened, Luigi looked at his weapon and noticed that all he was holding was a stick with a pointy end, and because of this, he wasn't prepared for the incoming blow from the morning star.

Mario heard a sound he never wanted to hear again in his life, as he watched the spiked ball plow directly into his brothers' stomach, knocking him back several meters. It sent a wave of energy into Mario's legs, as he moved to the center of the hallway. "Luigi!" His brother struggled to stand back up, as a direct puncture wound that spanned the width of his stomach was formed in his belly. He was supporting himself with his hammers hilt, but his eyes widened upon looking at his brother, and he pointed and shouted at his older brother.

"Mario! Look Out!" Mario spun around and saw the silhouette of a person twice as tall as him tower over him. The metal chain of the morning star wrapped around them, distorting their image, but he was able to make out the spherical shape of the spiked ball ready to smash down into him. In a last-ditch effort, he leaped back and collided into his brother, sending them rolling down the hallway, until they slid to a stop, with each one face down in the opposite direction. Mario looked up but was unable to maneuver out of the way of a speeding ice spear.

* * *

So, a few things regarding this story.

1: The time in between each chapter is increasing, mostly because of life being busy and I want to spend time doing other things that I have passions for, so I hope you can forgive me if I take a bit longer in between each chapter upload, and the only way for me to maintain the quality of the story is putting a lot of time and effort into it. I haven't forgotten about this story though so don't worry.

2: I'm hoping the next chapters don't take as long, as lately I have been less inspired to write this story mostly because I had to do a lot of story and character building in this chapter, so let's keep on hoping.

3: As for questions for the story, I only got one. "Are there going to be more bro attacks from the Mario and Luigi games." While this fanfiction takes inspiration from the Mario and Luigi RPG games, This is more of an amalgamation of all of Mario's adventures in the world of Re: Zero, so while there will be more, I want to keep making references to all kinds of Mario games. (Did you find the reference from Yoshi's Island?)

Anyway, Hope you enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8: Demon Disco

Chapter 8: Demon Disco

Mario Frantically threw his body down and fell against the back wall. His eyes were dilated, hands shaking, as sweat beading down his face. He was in a petrified state of shock, stuck staring directly in front of him. He was back in his room and seeing as his hat and borrowed nightgown was still sitting on his bed, he realized he had been taken back to the point at which he was changing into his normal outfit.

"Mama-Mia, it-a happened again." He let out a long sigh as he melted across the floor as if his bones turned to jelly. For a moment, he just sat there as his mind went wild as he recalled the dark events that transpired before his death. It was terrifying, yet informative. Somebody is going to attack Roswaal's Mansion and the inhabitants inside. Mario didn't know who or what they were, but they are strong enough to take his life. With the imagery was fresh in his head, Mario crawled towards the desk in his room with a fragmented plan in mind. He inched the drawer of his desk open and found himself a quill with a bottle of ink, which spilled a little from the erratic movement onto the bottom of the wooden container, as well as the top corner of the paper lining the bottom of it.

With a soft thud, the sound of pulpy parchment landed in the middle of the desk. Mario shakily moved the writing supplies out of the drawer and placed them hastily on his desk. He dipped his pen in the ink and began writing, although a little sloppier than normal. He started off by writing what he knew about the attacker in a list. They were strong, as they could swing a large morning star around with ease. They knew Ice magic, due to the frosty spears that disarmed his brother and impaled Mario in the head. He froze for a moment after writing that on his list, as a flashback coursed through his head. Mario simply shook the thought from his mind and went back to work.

They could jump high, as they were able to reach the rafters in the hallway, which was comparable to the vertical of Luigi. They were also shorter than his brother, as when comparing how high they appeared when standing next to him, Luigi was slightly taller than the mysterious murderer. Mario moved his pen to write something else, but that was all he knew about the attacker.

"Oh man, that's it?" he mumbled to himself under his breath. He rested his head in his hand and racked his brain once more but couldn't think of anything else. He sighed and drew a line to separate the paper in half. He then wrote the names of everyone he had encountered on his journey so far, including; Luigi, Peach, Toadsworth, Emelia, Elsa, Reinhart, Roswaal, Ram, Rem, and a few others like Felt and Rom. Despite writing their names on the paper, Mario immediately crossed out Luigi for obvious reasons, and Toadsworth because he fit none of the categories on the list he made. Peach was the moment his pen reached her name, and because Roswaal was with her at the capitol, he was removed as well. Reinhart was too tall, uses a sword, and is a knight, so he was removed. Elsa did threaten that she would return to kill them, but she uses knives and aim for the gut, so it wasn't her. Ram knew either fire or wind magic as she was able to move the roaring flame back into the stove from his previous life, so she was removed.

The last one on the list was Rem. At first, Mario wanted to cross her off, but when he went through his list, he failed to see a reason to do so. He didn't know how strong she was, and if she used a morning star. Her magic element was a mystery, as well as her vertical leap. The only thing she did check out on was the height factory, but Ram did as well. There wasn't enough information to say she is the one, but there wasn't anything saying she wasn't the murderer either. He put a question mark next to her name, for the time being, hoping that it wasn't her. Everyone else on the list didn't the requirements either.

"Oh man, I thought-a that would-a be more helpful." Mario placed his quill back into the ink bottle and slid deeper into his simple wooden chair. "What do-a I do now?" he inquired himself half-heartedly. He put his hand on his forehead and started to recall the events that happened in the previous loop. At first, all he could think of was when the mysterious figure during the night. Then he attempted to start at the beginning. Seeing as he was in his new room, everyone would be doing their own things. As for what happened previously, he walked out of his room and found himself in the strange Library with the two spirits. He was ejected out of a window when he angered Beatrice, and when he went back inside of building…

"Oh no, Luigi!" His brother was going to fail at making a pasta bowl and light the kitchen on fire. Mario jumped out of his chair and dashed for the door. He gripped the handle and pulled the door wide, only to see the mysterious library instead of the hallway. The two Spirits stopped what they were doing and began to look directly at Mario. He let out an irritated grunt, and slammed the door again, only to open it back up again. However, the Library was still there. Beatrice address him in a sarcastic tone.

"What is it that you are trying to do, I wonder?" Her expression was as blank as ever.

Knowing that he didn't have time to spare, he came off a bit harsher than what he would have wanted when he said, "Can-a you please move-a-this room, I need-a to get out of-a-my room!"

Well seeing as you summoned the room somehow, you should be able to un-summon it, I suppose.

Mario, with a puffy look on his face, spun around and closed the door behind him. Back inside his room, he looked around for an exit, and his eyes set on the large window that took up most of the eastern wall. He approached it immediately, and after examining it, he felt a latch in the middle of the window and pulled it. The glass doors swung open letting in a crisp gust of wind filled the room. Mario wasted no time climbing up onto the edge and noticed that there was only a thin outer ledge with thin shingles lying on top of it. Mario stepped on the roof with one hand grabbing the beam that was lying in the middle of the window. After ensuring it was safe, Mario placed his other foot on the roof. He may have been on the third floor, but the height had to be at least four stories high, but Mario didn't hesitate to leap off of the rooftop. Wind blew past his face as he fell, and although he may fall flat on his face in his previous life, this time he was ready. Mario landed with a hefty thud, and dust kicked up around him. Mario had fallen from much greater heights, and he didn't even need to shake off the fall. With the direction in his mind, he dashed to the left towards the nearest door.

One thing Mario didn't see was the extra set of eyes watching him. From the second floor, in one of the endless number of hallways, Rem was scrubbing the windows with a small rag and a ladder. As she was working, a blur of red flew past her outside of the windows. She was startled at first and stepped back a bit before pressing against the glass doorway and looked down. Mario was crouching slightly with a cloud of white dust fading away from him but quickly ran off towards the back of the building. She looked up and noticed that the windows from the floor above her were open. 'How did he do that?' she thought to himself, 'A jump from that height would break one's legs easily.' Despite her better judgment, she dropped her rag in a bucket sitting against the wall and made her way through the mansion to Mario's room. It took only a few short minutes for her to reach her destination. She opened the door to the room and saw the generic template that blended in with every other designated guest chamber on the floor. She walked up to the open window and looked down on the ground. Below her was a thick flower bed that lined the edge of the building, with an indentation in the ground a few feet farther from them that looked like shoe marks in the grassy field. Mario had hit the ground with a great force yet was able to start running again immediately afterward.

Something was off about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Rem had heard of the dangers of Elsa form visits to the capitol, and even though Mario was able to hold his own against her, the only way for a human to land steadily after falling from a great height is by using wind magic. But Mario knew fire magic, based on what she heard from Emelia and Puck. Despite having nothing to go off of, Rem was suspicion of him, but she closed the windows and started to make her way towards the door until she saw a piece of paper on the desk. She stopped, picked up the piece of parchment, and held it up at about waist height. Upon inspecting it, the paper appeared to contain nothing more than a few crossed out doodles. However, the longer she looked at it, the more the doodles appeared and repeated in the same way that a written language would. Two of them that were on the paper were even the same symbols that were embraided on Mario and Luigi's hats, and in the top left corner, a scribble was written in the way that one would put their name on a page. 'Mario.' Perhaps the symbol on his hat was a letter that made an M sound. Looking at the page some more, a section was designated to what Rem deduced were several crossed out names. She came to the conclusion that the first was Luigi because of the symbol that matched his hat, but the others were a mystery. There was one that wasn't crossed out near the bottom of the list, and for some reason, the structuring of the scribbles looked familiar. 'could it be?' she thought, 'could that be…'

"Rem, Rem, where are you?" Her thoughts were drowned out by her sister calling her name in a monotone. Not wanting to look suspicious, Rem tucked the list into the desk drawer along with the other things on his desk and walked out of the room, holding a sense of caution in regard to her new guest.

* * *

Mario, despite walking in the same hallways from his previous life, was once again wandering about without a clear goal in mind. Knowing how the stove in the kitchen worked, Mario was able to help prevent Luigi's pasta problem and avoid having the whole kitchen burn down. After that, Mario was unsure as to what he should do. It was late at night when he was attacked, so he would need to spend the rest of the day doing something, but he didn't know what. Still on the bottom floor, he was looking for the staircase that would lead to the third, until he heard a voice coming from one of the nearby hallways. He went towards the origin of the echoing conversation and found Emelia and Puck talking next to the door that led into the endless field that was the mansion's backyard. Mario approached them casually, waving his hand as he approached them, perhaps he could pass the time with them.

"Hey Emelia, Puck!"

Emelia was the one to answer first, responding with a smile. "Oh Mario, how are you doing?"

"I'm-a good, just-a looking for-a something to-a do." He said, coming to a stop in front of the odd pair.

Puck floated over towards Mario with a mischievous look on his face. "If you're looking for entertainment, why don't you keep opening and closing the doors to the forbidden library repeatedly. I'm sure Beatrice's expression would be quite funny to watch."

"Hey, I was-a trying to get out of-a-my room, but I had to-a jump out of-a-the window." Mario wasn't overly upset about the scenario, but it put Emelia on high alert.

"Jump out of the window?!" Her eyes widened a little, but Mario immediately tried to calm her down.

"It's-a fine, I've-a jumped from higher places." His words didn't fully relive the half-elf, but Puck turned the discussion back to him and Mario.

"Well, at least you are more talented than your brother, seeing how he handled that simple spell earlier."

Mario thought back to his first loop and remembered how Luigi caused a building-sized black cloud to form from what he could only presume to be a rudimentary spell based on Puck's description. He sighed before responding, "Yeah, Luigi isn't-a so good with things on his-a first go. But he can-a help out quite a lot!"

Puck nodded with his eyelids closed, but they popped open in a matter of seconds as if he came up with an idea. "Hey tubby!" he floated on top of Mario's hat cheekily.

"That's not-a-my name, but-a yes," Mario replied slightly annoyed.

"Emelia let me know how weak your magic skills were, so why don't we change that."

"What!" Emelia's voiced raised up an octave and had a hint of embarrassment when she spoke. "I-I didn't say that! I just said he only knew how to use a single spell."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Puck landed on top of Mario's head creasing his hat slightly. "So Tubby, you ready."

Mario was a little hesitant, remembering what could happen if he messed up, but learning magic in a world filled with it would be very beneficial, especially for what he planned on doing later. "Alrighty, Let's-a-go!"

The three moved out into the backyard to where Luigi attempted magic before, with the grass still slightly darkened by the smoke that he emitted by his failed spell. Emelia stood back a few feet, while Puck hovered slightly above the red plumber.

"Alright, so the easiest way to cast a spell is to channel your mana that is flowing inside of your body. By doing that you can use it to cast a number of different spells based around your element." Mario nodded along and watched as Puck floated a few feet away. "Let's try throwing a fireball, which should be easy enough for you to accomplish. Focus on the deepest part of your body, when you feel something draw that to your hand and throw."

"Ok, I'll give it-a try." Mario closed his eyes and imagined the deepest part of his body as the spirit directed. It was similar to meditating, but it almost felt like he was drawing energy from his soul. The sensation started to move away from his heart, and to his right hand. His fingers felt hot, and as if on instinct, he knew exactly what to do. Mario's eyes shot open slightly redder than before, and he threw his hand downwards ready to throw a fireball at the ground at a forty-five-degree angle. He opened his hand, and a ball of fire formed in his palm, but the moment he threw the projectile, it hit the ground and disappeared with a small poof.

"Um, normally people throw forward, not at the ground." Puck said with a slightly sarcastic smile. Mario rubbed the back of his head and gave an embarrassed smile before responding.

"He, he, just-a force of habit I guess." After many years of throwing fireballs by using the power of a Fire Flower, it was strange that the projectile didn't bounce off of the ground. Mario focused again, and this time, he pretended he was going to throw a baseball. He focused again, without needing to stop and think, he threw the ball forward, letting the fiery projectile fly through the air, and soar directly past Puck and into a tree, where it poofed out of existence.

"Woah, watch where you're throwing those things." Puck said as he and Emelia made their way over towards Mario.

"That was good for a new spell," Emelia said, sounding quite impressed, "most humans often need months or even years to learn a new spell."

"Really?" Mario said as he straightened his hat. He was confused as to why she used the word humans but just assumed that she was referring to the other creatures like the ones at the capital were more magically gifted.

She continued on with her previous sentence. "Yes, it's why most magic users only know one or two spells, as it is often the max that people can be proficient at without negative effects from other spells."

"Huh, that's-a good to-a know" Mario said, taking a mental note of what Emelia said.

Unknown to the rest of the group, Toadsworth had made his way behind the rest of the group silently until he went to talk.

"Why that was most impressive Master Mario; defiantly something I had yet to have seen in my lifetime." All three looked behind themselves, but it was Mario who responded first.

"Oh Toadsworth, I didn't-a see you-a there." Mario was pleasantly surprised, as his last encounter with him was before he entered his new room for the first time.

"Well, I saw you from the inside of the mansion and decided to see what you were doing." He then turned to the others. "Lady Emelia, Puck, it is good to see two as well, but I am curious as to what you were teaching Mario. What happened to Master Luigi won't happen to Master Mario, won't it?"

Puck was the one to ease the old Toad's fears. "Nah, it will just let Tubby use his magic abilities to throwing fireballs instead of trying to jazz hands his enemies away."

Toadsworth didn't seem convinced "Oh, well I can see where you are coming from, but he can already throw fireballs." Emelia and Puck looked confused, and after facing each other, they turned to Mario.

"Well, I can-a do that, but not-a on-a my own. I need a Fire Flower to-a-do that-a."

"Fire, flower?" Emelia questioned, as the red Italian continued the conversation.

"Yes, it's-a Power-Up like-a-the Magic Mushroom, but it allows you to-a shoot Fireballs from-a-your hand. I could-a show you, but I don't-a have any on-a me."

"I have one though," Toadsworth interjected, "some of the Power-Up's that the Princess was planting have grown up." The mushroom man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, cartoonish looking flower. It had a small green stem with twin leaves coming out of the base, with a red and Yellow top with a white center that had two small black oval eyes. It almost had a bounce to it as it sat in Toadsworth's open palm. Yet even though Emelia and Puck had never seen anything like it, the half-elf noticed the resemblance to the mushroom that Luigi used on his brother.

"Oh, that-a perfect." Mario reached down and took the flower out of Toadsworth's hand. He looked at it for a moment, but quickly gripped it tightly activating its magical powers. Mario and his clothes started to flash bright colors for a brief moment, only for it to settle on a new color palette for Mario's outfit. His normal red and blue changed to a white shirt and hat with red overalls. Mario felt a wave of power rush through him as the flowers power settled into its new wielder.

It was Emelia who responded first, saying "What happened?"

"It changed your outfit?" Puck inquired obviously curious as to what had just occurred in front of him.

"He has transformed into Fire Mario; This is how he can throw fire," Toadsworth said with a confident look on his face.

Mario nodded and looked around his surroundings until he saw the same lone tree sitting in the middle of the field that he hit earlier. He readied himself and upon opening his palm, a ball of fire formed in his hand. He aimed forward and let the speeding projectile loose at an odd forty-five-degree angle, but unlike his mana fueled spell before, this projectile bounced along the ground singing the small blades of grass it touched before bursting out of existence when it hit the tree.

"Wow, with flowers like that I just might take up gardening." Puck said with a smile. Mario nodded back, feeling confident about his new plan for later that evening.

* * *

The golden sun was setting over the horizon as the dark night was about to take its hold over the Roswaal mansion. In the interior halls, things were winding down as all of the daily chores had been completed. Rem was making her way towards one of the guest's rooms with a tray with tea on it. Despite knowing that Mario had saved Emelia, she was still curious about him, the paper on his desk, and something else. She eventually made her way to the door that would lead into his room, and she shifted the trey to her right hand to her other one could knock on the door. She hit it three times with a soft thud before announcing her presence.

"Guest-sama, do you have a moment." Silence. Instead of waiting, Rem opened the door gently to let herself in. She expected to see Mario in his room, as not so long ago she looked around the mansion for him but couldn't find him, yet she was all alone in the empty room, with the only difference from the countless other guest rooms was the golden belt that laid across the back of his chair. Not ready to give up on locating Mario, she closed the door and decided to continue on down the hallway for a few rooms. She stopped in front of Luigi's room, staring blankly at it for only a moment before performing the same actions as she did with Mario's door.

Rem knocked three times, and said blankly "Excuse me, do you have a moment." This time, she heard some movement in the room, and after a brief moment, Luigi popped out of his room with a smile but was quickly startled when he first saw her.

"Wah! Rem, what are-a doing here?" 'Coward' Rem thought, but she said something different instead. "Would you happen to be interested in some tea?"

Luigi himself was still scared of the blue-haired maid. Granted, he had a long list of things that scared him, especially ghosts, and the maids at the current moment were on that list. But at the same time, Mario wasn't scared of them, and if his brother was okay with them, he should at least try to do the same. "S-Sure, come in."

Luigi walked back into his room and Rem followed him. His room was very similar to Mario's with the same furniture and wall coloring, but he had moved the table into the middle of the room. There was also a drawing on the table drawn with the ink that came in the desk. She placed the tray on the table and began to pour Luigi a glass of tea, and while Luigi fiddled with his chair, she got a better look at the drawing the green Italian made. It was very sloppy and appeared to be on the same skill level as a child, but she could make out the general picture. A blobby version of Luigi was standing on top of what appeared to be a big turtle dragon with his arms above his head. Three other characters, a big circle with a hat, a clumpy triangle with a crown on top of it, and what appeared to be a small dwarf with a bulbous head were cheering next to him. She could only assume it was his brother, the princess, and the strange mushroom man that he was acquainted with in the picture. Out of curiosity, Rem inquired about the picture.

"What is it that you have drawn, guest-sama."

Luigi's face immediately went red, and he almost fell out of his seat when he leaned forward to put the 'picture' into the desk drawer. He shivered slightly, and his spine was like a steel rod while he looked at the blue haired maid in front of him. "It's-a nothing, don't-a worry about it."

Rem stared at the lanky man for a short while before responding. "right, well here is your tea." She held out a plate with a small cup on it filled with a warm brown liquid.

"O-Oh, Thank-a you." The redness faded away from his face once he took the cup from Rem's hands and wasted no time slurping it up. He expected the drink to be similar to the beverages tasted during the morning, but he was shocked when he tasted it. "Hey, this is-a pretty good. How did-a you make it?"

Rem didn't move when she spoke and continued to look directly at her guest. "Based on how you reacted to the drinks this morning, I thought it you would like it if I added more flavor with some herbs and lemon juice." Luigi, however, didn't hear, and Rem watched as the green Italian quietly inhaled up his beverage, and Rem almost felt a little pride when he asked for seconds, but now wasn't the time for talking about tea. Rem came into the room for a reason, and she wasn't going to lose sight of her goal because of a warm drink. "Luigi-sama, do you know where your brother would happen to be?"

The green man opened his eyes and put his empty cup down on the table before responding. "Yes, why do-a you ask?"

"I was going to serve him tea, but I couldn't find him in his room or anywhere else in the mansion."

"Oh, well Mario told me that he was-a going on-a walk outside for-a bit because he wanted to-a-see what-a-the outside of-a-the mansion looked like." He smiled in between his sentence. "I even made him a sandwich before he went out!" Luigi's face was filled with an exuberant amount of pride for such a small feat.

"I see." Rem said with a bow. She picked the trey with the teacups on it before heading for the door. "Farewell Luigi-sama." Rem was almost out of the door before Luigi said one last thing to her.

"Tell-a-my bro hello for-a me." She didn't look back, but she paused. For some reason, Luigi's innocence and general tone reminded her of something, and it filled her with a sense of regret. Something was on Rem's mind, something that bothered her.

"Your brother is better than you, yes?"

"Huh?" Luigi said with confusion in his voice.

"Mario-sama is superior to you in every way, yet you try to be like him. Why?" for the short time she had known the two, she had seen how Luigi looks up, and strives to be like his brother. "Why try to be something that you can never achieve."

Luigi was almost hurt by what Rem had just said. She was very harsh, and her words very easily shook his fragile sense of security. He took in a deep breath before responding. "I don't-a try to-a be just-a like-a-my bro, it's just-a that Mario is-a so nice and-a-kind, and he never gives up on what he wants to achieve. He is-a brave, and always there to-a save the day. I might not-a be able to-a do everything Mario can, but if I can-a help my bro be-a hero, that is-a good enough for-a me."

"So, you'd rather live in a shadow of your older brother." Rem's voice darkened when she responded.

"What!? I didn't-a say that?"

"I pity you." The room was silent for a moment, as neither of the two responded to each other after Rem's comment. Only the howling of the wind from outside broke the silence. "Why bother leaving the shadow that you live in." The green Italian was once again confused by what the blue-haired maid had said, but he never got the chance to ask before Rem closed the door behind her. Luigi rushed out of his chair, even falling on the ground along the way, before opening the door to see nothing but an empty hallway.

* * *

As night was beginning to take hold over the sky, Mario was sitting on top of a small rock peering over a tall cliff that gave a clear view of every side of the mansion as the moon rose up to take the suns. He could even see behind Roswaal's large house due to the height of his sitting spot. In his hands was a fruit sandwich that was clumsily cut by Luigi. It tasted as it sounds, but to Mario, it didn't matter. His plan was simple. Watch and wait for the attacker to make their approach on the Roswaal Mansion and protect everyone inside. Mario even had a rough mental map of the lowest level of the Mansion from walking around in it for so long, which should hopefully give him enough time to run back to the house and guard the staircase to the upper floors. And if thing got harry, Mario had his Fire Flower abilities, the magic Puck taught him, and some extra surprises from the garden if things got serious. He was probably going to be all alone on this one, but that didn't worry him. Countless time Mario was able to save the day on his own, so why should it be any different now.

As the hours went by, the world faded into silence only disturbed by the sounds of nocturnal creatures coming out to start their day. Mario however, despite his best effort to perform one of the most important steak outs in his life, was starting to nod off. The sun was peeking over the horizon, but once it disappeared behind the horizon, something started to stir in the woods. At first, a soft wind blew across the cliffside, but it quickly turned into a nipping cold that blew across the hilltop. It snapped Mario out of his dazed state, who was a little less than prepared for the chilling wind.

"Mama-mia, I should have-a brought a jacket. Why is it-a-so cold?" Mario pondered to himself looking around. It wasn't midnight, so he still had several hours before the time at which he was attacked, but that didn't mean he wasn't on edge. There was the prospect that the attacker might go for him before anyone else, but Mario didn't think that was very likely at the time. However, as time went on, things kept happening that made that possibility seem very likely. Birds started to fly out of the forest in large flocks, trees started to sway from side to side, and some smaller animals like squirrels and rabbits started to escape from their hiding spots in the forest behind him. He may have been on a cliff, but the lush green thicket was only about thirty feet away, and the final nail in the coffin for his new theory was when Mario heard something in the depths of the forest behind him. Clanging metal chains, and what sounded like a plow digging up the crusty earth echoed from the forest. Trees moved away, and more creatures dashed to the left and right. Something was heading directly towards Mario.

"It's-a them." He muttered, and with the flick of his wrist, Mario threw a bouncing fireball into the green forest. At first, the bouncing light kept on going farther into the darkness, until it poofed out of existence. It was uncertain what his fiery attack hit, but a speeding morning star came flying out of the forest directly at Mario.

He didn't have time to react, and as soon as he saw it, the speeding metal ball hit Mario directly in his face. However, unlike the previous times, he was attacked, Mario flickered for a few moments before transforming back into his normal self without the fire powers. His clothes reverted back to normal, and his body turned slightly transparent. When someone loses a powerup, they gain temporary invincibility from all attacks, but only for a few moments. The invincibility, however, didn't prevent Mario from being knocked down the edge of the cliff. Mario started screaming as he fell down towards the ground with great speed. He hit the ground chest first in a small grassy clearing next to the edge of the cliff, and dust kicked out from all sides of him, but he wasted no time simply lying idle. Immediately, Mario looked up and noticed the ball and chain snap back behind the edge of the cliff side. He lifted upwards and made a dash away from Roswaal's Mansion. If the attacker was going after him, he should try to divert them for as long as possible.

The trees of the forest blurred together as Mario dashed through them. Wind blew past him, and he never looked back for even a moment, but he did hear the clanging of metal echo close behind. Eventually, out of the corner of his eye, Mario noticed the speeding ball flying towards him once again. This time, he dodged to the left, causing the attack to miss him entirely, and instead blast right through a hundred-year-old tree. The falling wooden tower directed his path farther left, which Mario followed instinctively. Every so often, another attempt of smattering Mario to pieces with the morning star occurred, but he dodged it every time. This kept happening until an unfortunate dead end arrived. Another towering cliff was staring him down at the edge of a small clearing, and a line of impassible trees funneled him to the impassible wall. Mario skidded to a stop before the clearing and took a battle pose, ready to fight head on. He looked on into the darkness but heard nor saw nothing, until a chill was forming behind him. Mario looked back and noticed an icicle spear inches from his face, which if not for the abilities of the Magic Mushroom, this life would have come to a frigid end. Mario was knocked back by the icy attack and was transformed into his miniature form. Things were looking dire, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

Mario stood up and went into his pocket and pulled out another powerup. An ice flowers. It's similar to the fire flower, but it freezes opponents in a solid block of ice, completely immobilizing them. Mario griped it tightly, and activated the ability, causing his body to grow back to normal size and flash brightly as his clothes inverted into a baby blue and red outfit. Mario noticed that the hidden figure was jumping over him, and so he threw an ice ball directly upwards into the upper canopy. When sounds of ice forming, cracking and solidifying bounced back into his ears, Mario knew he hit his target. He ran into the clearing, as his attacker fell to the ground in an icy statue.

With a loud crash, the ice surrounding the opponent broke away upon hitting the ground, letting his opponent free. Mario prepared himself, as he stood ready with the cliff side behind him. The first attack to come his way was the speeding morning star, but Mario quickly dawned his hammer and knocked it to the side. Several ice spears were shot at him, but Mario used his newfound magical attack to blast them out of the air. Without warning, Mario yelled out at the top of his lungs "Come out and-a fight, you big-a monkey!"

There was a moment of silence, but the chain of the morning star Mario hit with his hammer went limp, but when the sounds of footsteps started to come from the forest, Mario snapped his head back into action. The air was thick, and a feeling of dread hung over Mario, who stood strong inspire of it. Eventually, a silhouette emerged from the forest, and the silhouette then transformed into a distinguishable figure when it entered the clearing. Mario's eyes shot open, his tongue got caught in his mouth, and his arms almost went limp. He didn't believe who he was staring at, and it almost felt like a bad dream.

"Rem, why? Why are-a-you trying to-a kill me?" Mario's voice was hurt as he was staring at the emotional husk of a person he tried to dismiss as the culprit.

"To punish those who are suspicious." Her voice was harsh and cold, and even more void of humanity than before.

"Suspicious? Do you not-a trust me?"

"Yes, I will eliminate all obstacles in way of Roswaal."

"But I don't-a know what I-" Rem's eyes widened and her wrist snapped. The chain smacked into Mario's face and caused his powerup to disappear and his body to flicker once more. He let out a yelp of surprise as he fell down to the ground, as Rem looked confused as to what just happened to Mario's body, but only for a second.

"Your voice disgusts me."

Mario looked up in confusion and defeat. "You hate-a me, don't-a you."

"Yes." Rem said darkly.

"But-a why?!" Mario rose to his feet "Why don't-a you trust-a me!?"

Rem narrowed her eyes when she spoke. "Are you belonging to a political faction opposing Emelia-sama."

"What? Of-a course I'm-a not." But when he finished his sentence, the ball and chain swung in his direction. Mario reacted just in time and leaped up above the attack, luckily for him, it was an act of rage as Rem continued speaking after her assault.

"Of course, you are! Why else you be so close to Peach-sama! She is of Royal blood which makes her an opponent of Emelia-sama!" Mario looked at Rem's face and couldn't help but see the rage building in her widened eyes. He had to be careful, but at the same time, he didn't want to resort to violence.

Rem closed her eyes and relaxed her shoulders before asking her next question. "Are you, connected to the Witch Cult?" Mario racked his brain for anything that would connect with what Rem said, but the only thing he could think of was Kamek the Magikoopa.

"Not that-a I can-a-" Mario got cut off again as Rem swung her mace once more, but Mario performed a side-flip over it. He didn't let the Morningstar leave his sight until it made its way back to Rem's side, who was now livid.

"Don't act dumb! You smell just like them, and even if I am the only one who notices I can still tell!" Mario was almost intimidated by the raging maid as her furious image was burned in his head. "That wretched, horrid, evil stench, covers every inch of your puny being, and you chose to Lie anyway! I will never forgive them for what they did to me." She paused for only a brief moment before continuing, "or what I will do to you."

Mario, seeing as the situation was not getting better, took action "I don't-a know what your-a talking about, but I am-a not-a member of-a-some cult!"

"I pity your brother," Rem said under her breath, but Mario heard it regardless.

"Don't-a bring-a-my bro into-a this, he hasn't done-a-!" Mario tried to speak but a burning sensation emanated from his throat. While he was caught in his protective rage, Rem sent an icicle spear through his stubby throat. Blood sputtered out from his insides, as Mario started to choke on his own bodily fluids. He placed his hand on his throat and felt the gap where his flesh used to be. Mario looked at his bloody glove and collapsed to the ground. He looked up with a hazy gaze at Rem who was now looking over his dying body.

"I pity your brother, for having such a pathetic brother to aspire to." She looked on as Mario struggled and fought against his timely death. His right hand shook hopefully towards her but went limp soon after. His eyes went cold, and his large head fell to his side.

"Pitiful." Rem said blankly before turning back towards the direction of the Mansion. As she walked, she started to think about how she would explain everything. The first thing that came to mind was the prospect of disposing of Luigi and Toadsworth, as they would not be as forgiving as everyone else. However, by the time she had reached the first tree, she heard something come from behind her. A small melodic jingle with a rising assent in its tone, as if it was announcing a grand event, but when Rem turned around to see what caused such a sound, her skin turned white and her eyes went wide.

Mario was dashing directly towards Rem at tremendous speeds. Rem didn't believe it; she had watched him die right in front of her, yet he was as energetic as ever. She wanted to dodge, but Mario was already inches from her, winding up a rightward hook with a determined expression on his face. She covered her face by crossing her arms and braced for impact. Mario launched a punch from his right hand into the side of Rem's face, and immediately afterward followed up with a leftward hook. Rem did little more than shift slightly to each side when she was hit, but Mario then did something she didn't foresee. Mario launched a powerful forward kick to her face by jumping off of his left foot to finish off his combo.

The Blow was much more powerful than the previous attacks, and it sent her flying backward through the air. She hit the ground hard, but she got up quickly with a roll. Rem was suppressed by how hard she was hit, considering how Mario was just a human, but she didn't have much time to react as Mario was once again coming towards her. Mario launched himself with a forward kick, but Rem ducked out of the way. When he landed, Mario dove into his pocket and pulled out a leaf from his pocket. Rem watched in awe as Mario flicked his wrist and caused a striped tail and ears to appear on his body. For some reason, Mario was able to take ordinary objects and was able to change his form with them. Rem then got up onto her feet and summoned her Morningstar, which she then promptly sent towards Mario. However, Mario jumped up and spun his tail by twirling in the air. He timed it perfectly to the point where he hit the speeding metal ball and caused it to stop its horizontal movement completely and bounce slightly upwards. He grabbed it and then punted it right back at Rem, who was unable to dodge Mario's counter-attack.

Rem was sent back into the cliff side wall with the tremendous force from the returning morning star, as dust shot out from behind her. When the large metal ball fell to the ground, she noticed a spot left of her abdomen where one of the spikes punctured through her uniform and into her body. Looking up, Mario was charging at her once again. Covering her wound, Rem used her left hand to send a wave of Icey spears at Mario. However, Mario leaped up into the air, threw his arms to his side, and started to fly up above the blue-haired maid. She noticed that the raccoon-like tail was twirling and was likely the cause of his flight. Seeing as Mario was trying to fly up onto the cliff top, Rem threw another ice spear at Mario, this time aimed at his tail. He was unable to avoid the attack, and when the icicle collided with him, Mario flickered and lost his extra ears and tail. He started to fall down to the ground with his arms flailing until he narrowly grasped the edge of the cliff.

Mario looked down and gasped slightly after seeing the wounded Rem wind up another attack with her morning star. He scrambled up the side of the cliffside, kicking out small rocks as he went, before just narrowly dodging the piercing blow of the spiked metal sphere, which dug up a large chunk of the cliff side. Rem looked up at where Mario was hanging previously, only to see a bright light of differing shades of blue flash from above. Mario stepped back out into view, with once again a different look. Mario was wearing an outfit of red and light blue, very similar to the color of her hair. It was the same outfit from before, which meant Mario would have his icy attack added to his arsenal. He winded back his arm and threw it forward letting an ice ball fly through the air towards Rem. She jumped backward, lunging out of the way of the icy attack. The ice ball bounced on the ground once but dissipated upon its second impact. Rem turned her gaze towards a nearby tree whose branch was close to the cliff edge. Her morning star dissipated out of her hands as if it were some kind of vanishing magic before she started running towards the tree.

Mario threw two more ice balls his attacker, but both missed leaving him vulnerable. Both the Ice and Fire Flower was limited in that only two projectiles could be conjured at once. As Rem started to leap up the different branches with superhuman jumps, Mario closed his eyes and focused deep inside of him. She landed on a branch that was level with Mario's height and started to run towards him, but Mario was ready. He winded back his arm and let a fireball shoot through the air straight at Rem's head. Her eyes went wide for a split second, before leaping upwards into the air to dodge his attack, but Mario didn't stop. Two more fireballs were thrown at Rem midair, but after summoning her morning star, the fireballs dissipated on the metal weapon. She was coming down onto Mario fast, who intensively pulled out his mallet, holding Rem in the air with his counter-attack.

After a brief moment of metal grinding, Mario pushed his hammer forward with all of his might, throwing Rem off balance and knocking her backwards. She almost slipped off the cliff, but she increased her deceleration by slamming her weapon into the ground. Rem wasted no time before shooting out more waves of icicle spears at her target, who fiercely blocked the attacked with his large mallet. Mario swung his hammer repeatedly, shattering the icy spears as they came while slowly inching backward. Rem seeing as Mario was moving away from her started to walk after him.

"Rem! Why are-a you doing this!?" Mario pleaded in-between each swing. Rem didn't listen and instead summoned her morning star once again as she kept up her icy assault with her left hand. It almost seemed like she was healing at an accelerated rate, seeing how she had already gained full motion back in her body. Instead of contesting Rem, Mario dove into a backwards roll, bouncing out of the way as the spiked ball crashed into the dirt. He proceeded to spin through the woods at an alarming speed, leaving the blue maid behind until he encountered a small clearing.

Mario sprang back into a standing position shortly after, standing ten feet or so from the edge of another cliff. At the bottom, large rocky spikes lined the edge; falling on them would be fatal. Looking ahead, there was another clearing past the stone spires within long jumping range, but if he wanted to return to the mansion, he would need to go the way he came. Looking behind him, trees seemed to dodge out of the way of a tremendous force. Instead of running, Mario took a defensive position once again, staring at the forest intently.

For a moment, the world seemed quiet, with only the wind howling past him to break the silence. The sounds of chains started to rattle, and Rem crept out of the darkness like a lifeless corpse, dragging her weapon along the ground. Her eyes were dark but fixated on the red Italian.

"Why did you come here, you witch cultist." Her voice was crackly but furious and determined.

"I told-a you, I don't-a-know about-a-this cult you are-a talking about-a!?" Mario shouted, still ready for action.

Rem cut him off at the last question with a killer intent in her voice. "After all these years you come to toy with me again! You took everything from me then, but I won't let you do it again! You and every single one of them will die at my hands!" Her eyes seemed to have lost their blue glow, and instead, a dark grey was all that remained as daggers shot out with every word she spoke.

"Fine, have it-a-your way." Mario's watched as Rem flicked her wrist and sent the morning star darting straight at him once again. This time, however, he had a plan. Mario performed a spinning into the air, and bouncing off of the spiked wrecking ball, but dove into his pocket once more. Rem watched the fat Italian rebounded off of her attack, before seeing him shrink out of existence. At first, she was in disbelief, looking frantically over the grassy field for her prey, until she caught the scent of something dark approach her. She spun around and caught Mario grow back into his normal size with the blue flashing lights as if he was reactivating his ability. She gave Mario a small sucker punch to the face, knocking the hat off of his head, but Mario threw an ice ball at Rem in return. She tried to move, but she couldn't; a deep cold surrounded her, and it took her a moment to realize that she was once again frozen in a block of ice. The anger in her eyes turned to fear, as Mario picked her up with twirl.

Mario took a few steps before throwing the frozen Rem towards the ground at the edge of the cliff. Upon impact, the icy casing shattered, causing her to roll across the grassy clearing like a ragdoll before reaching a stop just before the edge. Rem's body was covered in cuts and burses, and as she struggled to stand up, she realized how sore her muscles were from the fight with what she presumed to be an easy foe. Mario, however, wasn't taking any more chances and grabbed the handle of the morning star that killed him in his previous life. Mario dug his heels into the dirt, uprooting the small blades of grass that grew there. At first, he was spinning slowly, but after a few seconds, Mario was twirling the spiked wrecking ball like it weighed less than a feather. In the blink of an eye, Mario split his stance and set his aim towards the wounded maid.

"So long-a Rem!" Mario let the metal ball fly out of his hands, creating a shockwave through the air as it went. Rem watched helplessly as her own weapon crashed into her, sending her flying off the edge of the spiky cliff.

Mario remained in his position for a brief moment, breathing heavily before dashing to the perimeter of the ridge. About forty feet from the spikes lining the edge of the cliff, a human-sized ditch led into another patch of thick forest, with the psychotic Rem nowhere in sight.

"Yahoo!" Mario Jumped up in victory, pumping his fist into the air heroically. When he landed onto the ground, Mario spun around and dashed into the deep forest, not before picking up his hat along the way. As Mario made his way through the thicket, many thoughts went through his mind. He established that the attacker was Rem, which meant that even though Emelia invited him to stay at Roswaal's mansion, he, Luigi, and Toadsworth would have to leave the mansion quickly. He would also need to make his way back to the capitol quickly so he can meet up with Peach. From there, they could try and figure out a plan for making their way back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario eventually came across the first cliff that he summited with the help of his Tanooki Leaf and jumped down it as if he was descending down a flight of stairs. His mind went back to Rem. Although she was trying to kill him, Mario never wanted to kill his attacker, and secretly hoped that Rem was still alive. Perhaps it was because Mario himself was a twin, but he felt guilty for hurting Rem, and for what Ram would think. At the same time, Mario couldn't help but wonder what Rem was talking about. 'Witch cult?' he thought to himself. The name itself wasn't welcoming, but for some reason, Rem had traumatic memories with them when she said 'You took everything from me then', perhaps she was trying to protect those in the mansion. It would make sense as to why she singled him and his brother specifically, as Toadsworth poses no threat of any kind, despite his best effort. As for why Rem accused him, she said that he smelt like them, which confused him as he couldn't tell he smelled any different than normal. Whatever it was, Rem didn't trust him, and she was willing to kill him over it.

Despite being in mid-thought, Mario just barely saw a speeding blur come towards him from behind. He yelped in surprise, throwing another ice ball at the projectile, freezing it solid mid-air. Dawning his hammer, Mario smashed the floating ice sculpture, shattering it and the object inside into pieces. Everything fell to the ground in a series of soft thuds, aside from one large chunk of a metal ball. It was Rem's morning star. The chain disappeared into a series of bright magical partials, inadvertently causing Mario to look back into the darkness of the forest. By now, the moon was just over the horizon, but a flock of crows flew overhead away from the origin of the attack, blocking some of the light. When Mario looked back at the forest a dark purple glow was moving towards him. On one hand, Rem was still alive, on the other, something sinister was coming his way. His gut sank, and his face started to become drenched in sweat. An instinctive drive was trying to make him run away, but Mario's legs were locked in fear.

"R-Rem, is-a that-a y-you?" His voice echoed in the darkness, with no vocal reply, until a low, grunting pant like that of a wild dog echoed back. Mario took a step back, as the purple light started to take shape. It was short, skinny, yet pointy, but it was only when the source was within a few feet of him did he notice what it was. In the dark of the night, Rem was hunched over like a zombie, with beady eyes that weren't focused on any one thing in particular. Her injuries seemed to be accentuated, but it was her forehead that drew Mario's attention. A small, purple horn was sticking out of Rem's head, with streams of blood dripping down her delicate face. It looked painful as if a bone sprouted out of her forehead and split her skin open. She looked like a one-horned devil.

"R-Rem?" his voice, although gentle in tone, aggravated her and caused the demented maiden to snap. She waved her hands forward into an arrow, sending a wall of ice spears at him. Somehow even after getting beaten down and shot off of a cliff, her attacks were even stronger than before. There was nowhere to run, and it was too tall to jump over. Mario tried throwing an ice ball, but it stopped one of the hundreds of icicles that were speeding towards him. The first one struck his nose, causing it and his ice powers to disappear, reverting him back to normal form. Luckily the remaining attacks failed to damage him during his transition back to his regular state, but it didn't stop Rem from continuing her assault.

Rem raised her hands and started to send out one icy attack after another from differing angles. The first one cut Mario's shoulder, splitting the fabrics that made up his clothes. The second one was aimed at his stomach, but Mario used his new fire ability to shoot out the attack mid-air. Rem kept up her assault up, sending wave after wave of icicles at Mario who was struggling to fend off her attacks. He started to feel his body become drained, and it was at that moment when he recalled where he was drawing the energy to use his magic. He was using up his life energy with each fireball, and Rem showed no signs of stopping. Mario dawned his hammer and started to block any fatal attack that would come his way.

"Rem, I don't-a want to-a hurt you!" Mario's plea was answered with an icicle crashing into his leg. Without any active powerups, it pierced into his flesh, stopping halfway upon impact with the bone. Mario winced at the pain, as the magical ice spear started to melt in his skin. "Rem, why don't-a you trust me!?"

Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. The word 'Trust' echoed into his head, and everything became clear. Rem was trying to attack him and his brother because she didn't trust them. They had given Rem no reason to, and thus she wouldn't believe anything he said, despite it being the truth. There was only one problem, Mario had no way of gaining Rem's respect in her current state. However, a past version of her might be more flexible. He didn't like the prospect dying again, and despite respawning twice before, Mario still wasn't fully convinced in his new ability.

Rem, however, wasn't going to let Mario just stand idly and threw an ice shard at the hilt of his hammer. The sound of the wooden handle snapping brought Mario out of his train of thought and made his once again aware of the situation. Instead of fighting, Mario stood up, and opened his arms wide, dropping the wooden stick to the ground.

"If I'm-a who you want, then come and-a get-a-me!" the devilish maid raised her arms and formed a long sharp icy spear that could impale a redwood. Rem yelled as her arms snapped forward with her wintery weapon. Mario had to restrain himself from moving away from the tip of the attack, but when it hit his head, the world around him went black.

* * *

Alright, things are starting to get intense! Mario has begun to put the pieces of his deadly puzzle together, and everything is starting to come to a head. I am trying to start some character development that should span across the story, so hopefully, that pays off. Chapter 9 of Mario and Luigi, Re Start: Super Butler Bros.

PS) for Reading pleasure, listen to a version of the boss theme from one of the Mario and Luigi RPG games, my personal favorite is from Bowers inside Story, and marionose1 on youtube has a great remix of it.


	9. Chapter 9: Super Butler Bros

Chapter 9: Super Butler Bros.

Mario stood with his arms locked in a bent position at his side, yelling at the top of his lungs with his eyes closed tightly. Ready for an icy attack to pierce him and end his life, Mario was preparing for the worst to come, but nothing happened. He opened one eye and lowered the volume of his scream as he looked around, only to once again see an empty room with his hat resting on the fluffy bed. Upon realizing he had reset once again, Mario sighed and collapsed onto the ground with his legs shooting out to his sides. He dropped his head into his open palms blocking the light from reaching his eyes. Memories of Rem flashed through his mind, with the entire fight from him being knocked off the cliff all the way to him seeing Rem with her demonic horn washing over him in a fraction of a second. He felt queasy and hurt. His gut felt empty, and his hear cold. The novelty of remembering everything that happened before he died was starting to fade away and become more of a painful side effect than a powerful tool.

"Oh man," he sighed to himself, "What am I supposed to-a-do now?" Mario was confused as to what to do next; he had to somehow convince his murderer not to kill him. Despite the mental pain it caused him, Mario recalled what it was that Rem had said to him during his fight. She distrusted him, found him revolting, thought he was a political opponent to her and Emelia, and declared that he smelled like a member of some 'witch cult,' of which he knew nothing about. As for how he would overcome those and get Rem to see him as a friend, he didn't know. He couldn't do anything about his relation to Peach, and he had no idea what to do about the trust issue between the two. As for the smell, he was totally stumped. Mario always washed his hands and took daily showers when he was in the Mushroom Kingdom, so he had no idea as to what Rem could be smelling from him.

More bad memories started to fill his head the longer he thought about it, and it was starting to drive Mario mad. Trying to clear his head, he picked up his red cap and walked towards the door. He opened it up and shuffled out into the hallway, but he only made it a few feet away before realizing something. For the first time, he didn't enter the Forbidden Library. It shocked him at first, but then Mario realized that he wasn't thinking about the Forbidden Library or anything that could relate to it when he opened the door. Perhaps it only presented itself when Mario was thinking about it. Shaking his head, he closed the door to his room and started to walk towards the door that led out of the endless hallway.

The walls and windows blended together as he aimlessly patrolled the large residency of one of the greatest magicians in the land. A few signs were next to some of the doors, signaling a few rooms of importance, most of which were used for rooms that weren't for guests. He recalled seeing one of the signs next to the kitchen from his second loop. And although Mario knew about the impending spaghetti disaster that would occur in that room, it wasn't the thing he was concerned with. Eventually, Mario stumbled across one room with a label next to it. 'Bathroom' it said in the native language. 'Maybe that could help.' He thought to himself slightly hopelessly. Mario pushed open the door and was presented with a small corridor filled with cleaning supplies and hygiene products. The floor went from hardwood to a smooth stone surface, and although it wasn't tiled, it was probably the closest thing this world had to modern flooring. He walked through the small hallway and towards another small wooden door. He pushed it open, and a wave of humid air blasted past him. In front of him was a large open room similar in size to the kitchen, except a much wider and less deep. Aside from a few small shelves with towels and more cleaning products in the corners of the room, the only thing inside of the bathroom was a large circular bathtub that took up a good eighty percent of the floor's surface area. There was a small shelf for sitting on that lined the inside of the tub, but aside from that it was four feet deep. The pool was empty, and even though it could fit everyone in the mansion several times over, the only thing that was in the empty bowl was Ram with a mop in her hand.

Ram, seeing Mario standing by the entrance of the room, started the conversation between the two with a degrading remark. "If there is something you want make it quick, I don't have time to waste on you."

After experiencing Ram and her rude comments more times than he could count, Mario was accustomed to Ram being harsh towards him. Her attitude however didn't make up for her lousy work ethic. He had seen the two sisters perform some of their chores from his first two loops, and it was abundantly clear that Rem performed most, if not all of the chores in Roswaal's Mansion. Even now with an active spectator, Ram did little more than smear water around with a damp mop as a bubbly water bucket sat near the back edge of the room. After several years of being surrounded by the Toads back home, he was used to seeing people working their hearts out whenever he was around. It wasn't a welcomed change, but at least Ram wasn't hiding anything. He didn't however know why Rem held her sister in such high regard based on what she said during their fight, even if they were twins. The memory wasn't pleasant, and quickly made Mario disregard the question asked of him.

"Oh, it's-a nothing. Just-a wandering around." Mario scratched the back of his head when he spoke, with a tired sigh in his voice.

"Then leave me to my work, unlike you, I have thing I need to do." Rem said blankly as she pointed her head back at the stone floor of the tub.

"Oh, well-a bye then." Mario said with a wave, as he turned around towards the small hallway that separated the bathroom from the rest of the house; but when he did so an idea popped into his head. "Wait a minute, hey Ram!"

"What now," Ram groaned, letting her arm drop to her side, pushing the damp mop across the floor. Mario almost skipped back into the room and dropped into the tub without losing any momentum.

Mario skidded to a stop Infront of the red maid, somehow kicking up white smoke upon slowing down. "Ram, isn't there anybody else-a working in-a this-a mansion? Aside from-a you and-a-your sister of-a course." Mario knew the answer to this thanks to his respawn ability, but he technically shouldn't know the answer until later in the day, so he pretended not to know.

"Your stepping on my mop." Mario looked down and indeed he was standing on the cleaning tool Ram was barely using.

"Oh, sorry." Mario said embarrassedly, hopping off the cleaning tool.

"But no, only Rem and Ram work under Roswaal's care." Aside from the strange reference of herself in the third person, Mario smiled at her response.

"So, it's-a just-a you and-a-your sister working here?" Mario inquired the same question but worded slightly differently. Ram caught on this with her response.

"I believe I have already answered this question, but yes."

Mario puffed out his belly and patted his chest with a closed fist in joyful triumph. "Well if-a you don't-a mind, I can-a help! I've-a done many jobs in-a-my life so if-a there is anything you need-a help with just-a let-a-me know!" If Mario could work alongside of the maids, he might be able to gain the trust of one of them, which could end up saving both his and his brother's skin.

Ram was quiet for a moment before responding "Why would anyone want to work as a servant willingly?" She asked, showing more emotion in her voice then the rest of what she had said in all of the three loops combined.

"Well I want to-a help, that's all. Even if it's as-a small as-a cleaning a plate, that's-a good enough for-a me!"

Mario held his heroic pose for what felt like an eternity as Ram pondered what he just said. It was confusing, and contradicting, but it was honest. With quite a bit of force, Ram pushed the wooden staff of her mop into Mario's oversized hands. He was a bit startled, and he dropped his shoulders in response.

"Fine, if work is what you want, then I am more than happy to provide." Ram started to walk out of the room with a confident strut like that of a peacock. She twirled around at the doorway and waved her finger at him when she spoke. "This room should be spotless when I come in here again, and if you are somehow done before I return, meet me down in the kitchen."

The last word almost echoed in Mario's ears, and he only managed to squeak out a single sentence before Ram left the room. "Hey, could-a you check up on-a-my bro, he is in-a-the kitchen and he isn't-a-the best chef in-a-the world."

Although Ram was out of sight, she said the word "Spotless" before slamming the door that led out to the main hallway behind her.

Mario was once again left alone in an empty room with no one to talk to, but this time he had a wet mop in his hand and a job to do. He gripped the wooden handle tightly and confidently.

* * *

"Yowch!" Luigi exclaimed intently as he waved his hands through the air as if it were on fire. He dropped both a knife and a half-skinned potato on the kitchen floor. Mario, who was sitting in a chair a few feet away, couldn't help but feel embarrassed for both him and his brother while the two maids watched Luigi fail at peeling a potato.

"Sister, it seems that our guest is as bad cooking as he is at magic."

"Rem, it appears that the green guest is worse at cooking then he is at magic."

Luigi was watery in his eyes when he responded to the two. "Hey, you don't-a have to-a make-a fun of-a me, I'm-a new at-a this!" While Mario was finishing Ram's uncompleted job in the bathroom, she made her way downstairs into the kitchen and saw the disaster that Luigi was causing in the kitchen and acted quickly to stop the whole building from burning down. As she cleaned up Luigi's mess, which could still be seen on the top of the stove, he started to cut the potatoes for dinner as 'punishment'. When it became noticeably clear that Luigi had the cutting skills of a two-year-old, Ram called her sister into the room so the two could at least salvage enough food for the night's dinner.

However, what the maids didn't expect was for Mario to finish cleaning the bathroom as fast as he did. They had only just begun cutting when Mario walked into the kitchen ready for more. Ram at first was in disbelief, but after sending her sister to inspect his work, she returned only to say that his work was 'passable.' What Rem didn't say was that the bathtub was not only shining, it was almost reflective; better than brand new. They were also once again shocked when Mario joined in and started to cut the potatoes with them. Both sisters were beyond the levels of master chiefs when it came to their work, having skills that would take years of mastery to accomplish, but Mario was something else. He managed to skin a potato without cutting any of the white innards off in a matter of seconds. Mario himself said that he didn't cook that often, and things just come to him naturally, but the sisters didn't and couldn't believe him as Mario placed a perfectly peeled potato on the table, as if it grew without skin.

Luigi continued with his plea by saying "In don't-a see you helping-a too much!" He reached down and picked up his knife and his lumpy vegetable, which was more like a splotchy cube then a potato.

"Well you can't rush perfection." Ram stated pridefully as she placed her tenth skinned potato on the table. Luigi has skinned fourteen, but only two of which were usable.

"Your skills are quite astounding sister." Rem complemented her sister implying that she was the most skilled, but her potatoes were even more cleanly cut, only second to the person she was watching carefully.

Mario finished cutting his twentieth potato before turning towards his brother. "Hey Luigi, let-a me see that." Mario gestured to the vegetable in his brother's hand, who forked it over slowly.

"It's-a bad isn't it." Luigi said solemnly.

"No, you just-a aren't cutting it in-a-the right direction. Here, watch." Luigi looked at his brother's hands closely, and so did the maids. "You actually want to-a cut towards you, because it-a makes-a-your hand more stable, and you also want to-a cut as much-a shin in a single cut as-a you can" He continued to polish Luigi's potato, removing some of the remaining bits of skin and eyes that were still in the potato, and when he was done it was on a similar level of quality as Rams. All three of them were surprised, but Luigi had a sudden wave of confidence as Mario handed the vegetable back to his brother, who promptly placed it next to the two other poorly peeled potatoes next to him. Luigi grabbed another potato out of a large sack and tried to cut it again, and even though it wasn't great, it was an improvement none the less. It took him several minutes to complete, but once Luigi finished up, his eyes light up like a child finding a hidden egg on Easter Sunday.

"Look Mario, I did it!" Luigi held his vegetable up in the air, waving it triumphantly.

"Hey, Nice-a job!" Mario flashed a thumbs up back towards his brother.

As the four were worked, Emelia popped into the room with a confused look on her face. "Luigi, is that you? Why are you in the kitchen?"

Luigi turned from his brother and started leaning over the table to face the silver haired girl. "Emelia look! I cut-a potato!"

"Oh, that's good…" her voice had the tone of fake enthusiasm, not knowing why his small feat was so impressive, "but why are you working in the kitchen, you shouldn't have to do any chores."

"Well, Ram said that I had-to-a…" Luigi was cut off by his brother in the middle of replying to his inquirer.

"Luigi and-a I had-a nothing to-a do for the moment, so decided to-a help Rem and-a Ram out with some-of-a-their chores sense there are only two of-a them." Mario's smile somehow made the room quiet for a brief moment, until Emelia responded confusedly.

"Oh, well I guess it's ok if you don't work too hard." Emelia then turned to the sisters before continuing, "and that goes for you too, don't overexert yourselves." slipped out of the room, but not before waving to the brothers.

Ram quickly turned towards the green plumber and spoke in a stern tone. "That doesn't mean stop working."

"Oh right, sorry." Luigi squeaked as he grabbed another potato.

It was Rem who spoke up next, shocking everyone in the room when she did so. "Mario-sama, why is it that you helped your brother?"

"Eh, well it's because I wanted to-a help him that's all." Both Luigi and Ram looked towards Rem with confusion, but Mario kept his composure and smiled towards the blue haired maid.

"Wouldn't it be better, if he learned to do it on his own, without help?"

Mario kept his smile up, but was nerves when talking, hoping he could change his impression of him on her. "Because that-a what-a siblings do, they help each other out when-a they need it, and when one is-a struggling, the other can-a help out! You should-a-know about-a that right?"

Despite his positive attitude, his response seemed to have the opposite effect he wanted. The maids avoided eye contact from both the brothers and each other, pointed their heads at the floor, and became as quiet as a frightened deer. Something he said made the two close off from the brothers. The room went silent aside from the cutting of vegetables

"Yowch!"

* * *

Mario was on an emotional high, he felt light on his feet and his eyes almost seemed to flutter when he blinked. He was humming and whistling as he skipped about the mansion, and nobody could put a finger on it. Luigi, Toadsworth, Emelia and Puck, and Beatrice all sat around the rectangular table in the dining hall ready for breakfast; staring at Mario who was tapping a melodic beat on the table with his middle and pointer finger. Puck was the first to speak ask the question everyone had on their minds.

"Well somebody is in a good mood, where did that smile come from tubby?" The spiritual feline was sitting on top of Beatrice's head, twirling a single strand of hair with his small paws.

Mario looked up with an infectious grin on his face, but Luigi butted in before Mario could open his mouth. "Yeah, your never-a this happy in-a-the morning unless we are-a heading to-a-the castle."

"Oh it's-a nothing," Mario said with glistening eyes. "I just had-a good night's sleep that-s all." Of course, it was wasn't that he the fact that he slept well that made him happy, but rather that he woke up the next day. Both loops Mario had gone through ended with him dying in the middle of the night, and this was the first time he actually made it to the next day. The feeling of success made his heart rise, and Mario couldn't help but feel like he had made the next big step in something great. To the rest of the residents of the Mansion, Mario's happiness was a mystery, but only Beatrice seemed indifferent about it.

Despite the room's curiosity with Mario's current mood, everyone turned their attention towards the large double doors opening at the other end of the room with a low creek. The two maids each had a large cart with food on it for breakfast. It was different from yesterday's morning meal, as it was not only small, but contained things that one would actually eat at the start of their day, like toast with jelly instead of a cook bird, and squeezed orange juice and black coffee instead of tea and water. It was most likely because of Luigi reciting his very specific list of his go to things to at breakfast to Rem when they were washing the plates from the large dinner meal. Of course, things like yogurt and waffles didn't exist in this world, but his strange request somehow changed what was being served for breakfast.

Ram took the left side of the table, pouring the glasses of the drinks for Toadsworth, Emelia, and Beatrice, while Rem placed the dishes in the middle of the table from the right. Mario took a plate of toast with a drink of black coffee, while Luigi made a burnt sandwich with grape jelly in the middle of it, along with a glass of orange juice. However, despite the pickiness of the two brothers and their food, both were pleased with their meal.

"Hey, this is-a pretty good." Luigi said joyfully as he started to down his juice, "How did-a you make this?"

Rem was the one to respond, saying "Well based on your reaction to breakfast yesterday, I changed and added some seasonings to all of the food and drinks."

Mario was quick to complement Rem with her job with a joyful tone. "Yeah, the toast tastes-a great!"

Emelia, curious by the reaction of the brothers, tasted the heated bread for herself but had a different reaction from them. "Hm, it doesn't taste that different then normal?"

"The princess often swears that they have more taste buds then most people," Toadsworth said in-between sips of his morning beverage.

"Perhaps they are simply delusional, I suppose" Beatrice gloated with a wave with her hand.

Rem, who was now standing behind the head of the table with her sister where Roswaal would normally eat at, answered Emelia's response first. "Well I didn't change much, and normally most people can't tell the difference in cooking ingredients, but I tried it anyway." Rem started to stare at the two brothers more intently. "Perhaps there is more to them then what they show." Her voice was lower and most of the room didn't hear her aside from Ram who was standing beside her, and Mario who was listening intently to every word that she said. He even noticed that Rem was sniffing the air periodically. Pretending that he didn't hear the second part, Mario tried ending the conversation.

"Well, whatever you did, it tastes great!" Mario seemed cheerful, but there was a hint of nervousness to his voice, and his emotional high started to fall. Rem's eyes narrowed but didn't say anything to Mario. Mario became a little more worried than before with his relation to the blue maid.

* * *

"Hey Luigi, here it comes!" The small boy with red spikey hair and a scarf yelled towards Luigi, as he kicked a small rag-like ball above the green Italian. He jumped up and caught the small toy, before falling onto his back when he hit the ground with a hefty thud.

It was late in the day, and Luigi was playing with the same group of kids he met during the first loop, but due to him lacking the respawning powers that his brother possessed, they were all new faces to him. Rem said that she needed to go buy groceries from the village, and despite Mario volunteering for the job, Ram stated that Luigi should go with her instead, saying that she could tolerate Mario more than his green brother. The walk was silent on the way to the village, but as soon as they arrived at their destination, Luigi ditched Rem and ended up playing with the children of the village.

They were playing a strange variation of soccer, as the kids ran around trying to kick a bean bag like ball around and shoot it past Luigi and in-between two trees that was the designated goal area. He suggested that somebody else could be the goalie, but nobody volunteered, as they didn't want to be so close to the edge of the forest. They started to regret their decision as every attempt at a point they made Luigi blocked with a varying degree of skill and finesse.

"Ah man," the tubby kid replied upon seeing the ball being caught, "How are you so good at blocking?"

"He he, I don't-a know?" Luigi chuckled to himself, as he picked himself off of the ground. "I'm-a normally not-a this good."

"Well whatever you're doing, it's working." Said the red-haired boy.

As the group of kids laughed, Rem stood next to the path that led back to the mansion. She called out to the group with her normal blank tone. "Guest-sama, it is time to return to master Roswaal's mansion." Upon hearing this, everyone, including Luigi, let out a moan filled with disappointment.

"Really Rem-ri? Are you sure Luigi has to go?" The small blond girl with the pink bow in her hair begged to the blue maid from afar.

"Yes Petra, we need to head back to the mansion." Rem said simply, revealing the name of the small girl.

Luigi got up and tossed the small sack to one of the kids standing next to him. "Don't-a worry, I'll play with you the next time I come back." The small group of kids cheered and waved as Luigi ran off towards Rem, who smiled and waved back in response. When he reached her, Luigi noticed two large baskets in Rem's hands. He could see potatoes and a few yams peeking out of the side of one of them, but the other was completely hidden. "Hey, do-a you need help with-a that?"

"No, I will be quite fine." Rem said as she started to make her way towards the mansion. Luigi followed suit slightly behind her. For a while, they walked in silence, with nothing but the sounds of dirt underneath their feet and leaves rustling in the wind to break the silence. Luigi knew that he should get to know the people he was living with better, but he was still a little frightened by the maids. When he thought about his brother, and how Mario was making small conversations with them, he should try to talk to them too.

"So… The weather is-a nice isn't it." instead of opening her up, Rem almost shifted away from the green man. She responded skittishly.

"Y-Yes, it is, it's quite warm in fact; normally there would be snow about now, but it has been a very warm winter."

"Really?" Luigi said curiously, "I thought it was-a spring, or-a summer."

"No, the new year occurred only a few days before Peach-sama and Toadsworth-sama arrived at Roswaal's mansion."

"Huh, I didn't-a know that." Luigi was only able to slip out a generic reply, caught slightly off guard by Rem's response. The awkward silence was once again creeping over the two, but Luigi still wanted to try his best and build a friendship with Rem like his brother. He looked at her, trying to look for something to talk about, but the first thing that caught his eye was her right hand. Two small puncture wounds were visible on the top of her right palm and caused Luigi to inquire about her small injury.

"Hey Rem, what's-a that on-a-your hand." She looked down, and quickly moved it out of Luigi's line of sight.

"It's nothing. A small dog nipped me when I was buying food from one of the villagers." Once again silence. 'Skipsqueaks!' Luigi thought to himself, feeling embarrassed at by how short of conversations he was having with Rem. His second attempt ended in a single sentence, and it wasn't a positive one. Luigi's hands clenched up, and his neck snuck down into his shoulders as he continued to trudge along.

Unexpectedly, Rem spoke up next catching Luigi off guard. "You are new around here, aren't you?"

Rem looked at him blankly, but Luigi was still processing her words when he said "Huh?"

"Rem keeps hearing about this place called the Mushroom Kingdom, Rem's never heard of it before, what is it like?"

Luigi perked up, feeling quite confident in his knowledge about his homeland. "Oh it's-a great! There is-a lot of-a grassland, beaches, and-a mountains. The sun is-a always-a shining, even if it's-a little angry sometimes, and the clouds are-a always smiling. Gold-a coins float in-a-the air and there are-a warp pipes that can-a take you anywhere in-a-the world! But you can't-a forget about all of-a-the Toads; they live in-a Toad Town, right next to-a Peach's castle."

Rem seemed quite off put but what Luigi was talking about, as if he was talking about a great big fantasy. Floating coins, smiling clouds, 'warp pipes?'. Despite the strange things Luigi was referencing, there was something on her minds, but she was subtle about her question at first. "Does anybody else live there?"

"No, well, there are-a-some Yoshi's, but they live mostly on Dinosaur Island. Uh, Goomba's used to-a live there, but then they turned against the kingdom, so it's-a mostly just-a toads."

The two were crossing a bridge that went across a small creek, but Rem stopped suddenly in the middle of it. "What about demon's?"

"What?" the question caught him off guard, but he tried to answer it as best as he could. "Well, there are-a the Koopa's, but they are-a more turtles than anything."

Rem was silent for only a brief moment, but she quickly asked a follow up question. "What do you think about them." Her head was low, and her voice was almost depressed.

"About-a what?"

"Demons." Rem said, with the same saddened tone as before.

"Well, they are-a mischievous and they laugh at you when you make a mistake. They are-a super scary with-a-their horns, and even-a though Mario says they aren't-a real, I still don't-a like the thought of-a them." Luigi turned towards Rem, who's head somehow went even lower, and a dark shadow formed over her face upon hearing his response.

Rem muttered a weak "I see," before continuing down the road. She brushed past the green plumber and didn't bother to say anything else to the green plumber. She didn't stop, nor did she speed up. Rem simply continued down the dirt path as the sun started to creep below the horizon.

* * *

It was late in the evening, the sky was once again starting to glow a vivid series of reds, oranges, and purples, and Mario was, for the first time in what felt like forever, relaxing. Despite the small addition of two helpers to the workforce of Roswaal's mansion, all of the chores were complete for the evening. Mario was sitting in a small arm chair in one of many living rooms that were scattered about the mansion reading one of the few books from the shelves that lined the east wall. He wasn't alone however, as Toadsworth was sitting in the middle of a love seat directly across from him, slowly drinking a cup of tea that was delivered to him by Ram. She was still in the room, waiting for the old mushroom man to finish his drink, and while she waited, she curiously looked over towards Mario.

"What is it that you are reading, Guest-sama?" Ram asked with the tilt of her head.

"Oh, it's just-a book about-a some of-a-the different people and-a animals that-a live in-a Lugunica. After seeing some of-a-the different people that-a live in the capitol like-a-those lizard people, I was-a curious what else lived here."

It wasn't Ram who replied to Mario, but rather Toadsworth. "My word, you've already learned the language. I wanted to read that book earlier, but I couldn't decipher what it was saying."

"Uh yeah, I picked up-a thing here and-a there form-a-the capitol, but I don't-a know everything." Mario turned to face the red maid, "Maybe Ram can-a teach you."

Ram turned to face Mario when she answered him. "I don't know why you think I would be qualified for such things," she turned towards Toadsworth "but I can assist you if you desire."

"Oh no, you don't need to bother yourself with that miss Ram, I can just continue looking at the pictures if need be."

"Pictures?" Mario inquired curiously, "I haven't-a seen any pictures."

"Oh, you haven't, I think there was one on page thirty-four." Mario started to flip towards that page as the elder Toad started to second guess with himself on the specifics, but when Mario reached the page, he was presented with an old balding man with a cloak linking his arms together. There was one thing that caught him off guard, and it was the fact that he had two horns pointing out of his head. Memories of the previous loop started to flash in his head, but he disregarded them quickly.

"I found it, there is-a-some guy with horns coming out of his head." Mario flipped the book around and revealed the page. Toadsworth looked on with intrigue, but Ram looked as if all of the air in her lungs dissipated into nothingness. She quickly composed herself, but not fast enough for Mario not to notice.

"Yes, that is the one. Oh, do read Master Mario, I am quite intrigued." Mario granted the elder toads request and flipped the book back over into his hands and began to read.

"Oni's, the kin of-a-the Devil." Mario paused for a short moment, weary of what he was about to read. "Oni's are-a sub species of-a sapiens that have-a spread out to-a live-a life of secrecy far from the society of-a men. Few can-a match the raw physical and magical power of an Oni, and although Oni's can-a hide then, they are characterized by-a-their twin horns that grow on-a-the front of-a-their heads." The next few sentences for some reason was crossed out with what appeared to be a dark red ink. "Huh, I think-a somebody scribbled around in this book; there are-a-some lines crossed out."

"Roswaal-sama sometimes sketches in his books, removing what he deems unnecessary." Ram quickly said, effortlessly maintaining her composure and posture. Mario nodded hesitantly and continued on.

"An Oni's magic, and-a their lifeforce, is-a drawn from-a-the environment with-a-their horn, and it is-a said that without it they will perish." There was even more red ink covering the previous sentence, but it was still legible. "Not-a much is known about-a Oni's, due to-a-their seclusion from the rest of-a society, but it is-a said that when one encounters an Oni, their life will-a be filled with-a misfortune, pain, and-a misery. Never face an Oni in-a battle, as even the weakest can outmatch any warrior with-a-their relentless drive and-a powerful abilities." Mario read the next sentence ahead and felt his heart fall as he read it aloud. "If you ever try to-a fight an Oni with-a-their horns revealed, give up. It is-a already too late. Your fate has been sealed."

Ram tightened her fist aggressively, and Mario once again noticed. Toadsworth didn't help the situation when he spoke up and said, "Oh my, to think those kinds of monsters live in this land."

"W-Well, you never-a know, the person who-a wrote this-a book just-a might not-a like them very much." Mario's voice was filled with slight nervousness as he spoke, and for the first time, the old Toad noticed a hint of tension in the air. "I'm sure it-a gets better on-a the next-a page." Mario turned the old parchment paper, and for a moment his heart stopped. The world seemed colder than normal, and it felt like it was closing in on him. His breath became erratic, and his arms started to wobble. His throat was clotting up, and his eyes darkened at the edges, focusing them onto the drawing on the new page. Two small children were wearing what appeared to be a kimono dress were lying next to each other, one small and one slightly larger than the other, but his eyes were fixated on their heads, like a moth drawn to a nightlight. Each one had a singular horn in the middle of their head, and the drawing had a caption underneath that read, 'A depiction of Oni twins.' There was also more red ink on the page, but it was crossing out the larger child's horn with a scratchy look to it, along with most of the text of the page. The nail in the coffin was the fact that the character in the native language that represented the word 'why' was written all over the page in the same ink, and with the message 'Why wasn't it me!?' filling the entire page with the depressing message.

The past memoires went from brief flashes to piercing imagery that pulled and pressured Mario's mind. Rem wasn't a simple human, she was an Oni, a one horned demon with the goal of ending his life. The situation became exponentially worse when Mario mustered up the courage to read the section of unaltered text at the top of the page. "In-a Oni culture, twins are-a seen as-a bad omen even to-a-their own species, due to-a them only possessing one horn each. Never has-a pair of-a Oni twins survived past-a infancy, but it's-a hypothesized that if-a pair of-a twins have-a strong enough magical capabilities, they could-a grow up and-a live amongst-a-their peers, but they would be most likely forbidden to marry or reproduce due to their deformity."

"Hm, is that all?" Mario nodded nervously when responding to Toadsworth. "Well, I hope that there aren't any of those creatures living near here."

Ram cut in, but her voice was dark, and almost hurt. "No, Oni's were wiped out years ago from an attack at the last of their hidden villages. They are no more of them in the world." Mario was staring at Ram with a panicky look on his face, she was lying, as an Oni was standing right in front of him. She obviously had to be one of the strongest of her kind, as otherwise she would have been murdered as a child, and based upon what happened when he fought her sister, Ram could end their lives in a heartbeat if she wanted to, and the rest of the mansion would be none the wiser. Did anyone know about this, did Roswaal know? Did Emelia know?

"Mario." The mustached man yelped slightly when Ram addressed him. "Perhaps you should read about something else." Ram had an evil glare which she aimed directly at the red plumber. He nodded instinctively and started to flip through the notebook for a completely different creature. Eventually he found a page that had exactly what he was looking for.

"Hey, there is-a-this picture of-a giant dragon on here." Mario said as he observed the page which had a large lizard beast span two pages.

Ram was quick to respond to Mario's observation, when she abruptly said, "the Great Dragon. The only dragon worth talking about is the Great Dragon." Mario looked down at the page, and sure enough the sketch was labeled, 'Volcanica, the Great Dragon.' "Legend has it that the Great Dragon was the former of the sea, and the creator of the sky. He is the protector of all things untouched by darkness and was the being that almost defeated the Jealousy Witch."

The word 'Witch' seemed to echo in Mario's ears, and once again memories from his previous loop started to flash back into his memory. His curiosity spiked up, and he inquired further. "Who is-a-the Jealousy Witch?"

Ram scoffed at Mario in response. "You truly don't know a thing about this world, do you." She sighed and turned towards the window before continuing.

"Four hundred years ago, this land was dominated by the seven Witches of Sin. They wreaked havoc across the land, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, but the worst had yet to come. There was a prophecy that one of the witches would be killed and reborn in a new host, one that would end the world as it was known. The Great Dragon flew into the land and listened to the cries of the people. He confronted one of the witches that was presumed to be the one that would destroy the world and sealed her behind a sacred waterfall till the end of time. The dragon was weakened, so he needed to rest until he could continue his job at defeating all the Witches of Sin. However, fortune was not favoring the bold, and the tides turned quickly. Even though the prophecy wasn't supposed to be complete for another ten years, the Witch of Envy fell ill and passed away. She was reborn, but in an incompatible body. The Witch possessed the body of a silver haired half elf named Satella."

Mario's mind started to collapse in on itself. His world was breaking, and he felt as if he was doomed to an eternity of torture. Satella; silver haired half elf; it sounded just like…

"Wait a minute, that sounds like Lady-Emelia." Toadsworth proclaimed in a confused voice.

Ram faced the elder Toad fiercely. "Their connection is purely coincidental." She turned back towards the window and continued. Mario thought back to the capitol, during the first loop and recalled the name that Emelia gave him. 'Why?' he thought, why would she take on the name of a witch. Was it a test, or was it something else?

"Instead of taking control of Satella, the witch became a second part of her, as if they were sharing the same body. When that day came, the sky started to bleed, and the world began to wilt. It was said that all Satella desired before she was consumed by the Witch of Envy was a mate, a husband. The Witch acted upon those feelings and started to kill thousands on her quest to find Satella's soul mate. She showed no affection to anyone aside from those who she loved, but every time she thought she had found her partner, they would turn her away in fear, only for her to crush them into oblivion. They said that it was like she had invisible hands that could reach out and alter the world around her, as well as protect, or destroy anyone she found unworthy."

Mario's hands began to shake, and his heart was racing. 'No' he thought, 'there's no way.' The hands, the hands he saw when he died for the first time back at the capitol, they pulled him out of the darkness and back to life, and out of danger. Mario felt like he was being watched from all sides, and his ability became much more frightening if the source of it was coming from who he hoped against all hope wasn't the culprit.

"Satella was relentless, she even devoured the other Witches of Sin, clamming they were in the way of her destiny. Satella would have murdered all of Lugunica if it weren't for the combined effort of the Dragon, a powerful knight known as the Sword Saint, and the powerful Sage. Even with the greatest powers in all of the land combining their forces, all they were able to accomplish was to seal her physical form away." Ram Paused, letting the story sink into Toadsworth's brain, who was becoming very startled by the matter, and Mario's, who was losing his composure quickly. "If it weren't for the dragon, Satella's soul could still cause harm to the world. That doesn't stop her from moving her spiritual form around, brining darkness along wherever she goes, looking for her someone to love her. Because of this, the Dragon is seen as weak by the people today, and as darkness starts to take it's hold back over the land, people blame the dragon. Some even want to slay the dragon, but he has hidden himself in the mountains behind the capitol resting until his full strength is restored."

The room was silent, and nobody spoke for a long time.

"My word, is that all true?" Toadsworth inquired worriedly.

"Yes. Every child knows to run away from a creature of darkness, and the name Satella has become a socially forbidden phrase."

"Oh dear, well it's good that Mario is here! He fights the forces of evil for a living, if anyone can protect us its him." Both Toadsworth and Ram turned to face Mario, but when the elder Toad went to give a reply, his confidence melted. "Right Mario?"

He was shivering, and his hands were gripped tightly together by his mouth. A dark shadow loomed over him, and his normally youthful eyes were vast and empty. "Oh, I'm-a fine, don't-a worry about-a anything. We should-a be just-a fine." The two guests watched in caution as Mario slowly rose to his feet. "You know, it's-a been a long day, and I really need to-a get some sleep for-a work tomorrow." Mario hobbled over to the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." The red Italian, normally joyful and energetic, looked anxious and uneasy as he waved to the two before exiting the room into the darkening hallway.

* * *

Mario's having a bad time... Hopefully what happened in the second loop won't happen again, but I guess we'll have to wait and see in Chapter 10, Luigi to the Rescue!


	10. Chapter 10: Luigi to the Rescue!

Chapter 10: Luigi to the Rescue!

It was late in the evening, and most of the mansion was getting ready for bed. Beatrice, however, was still wide awake. Every spirit has its individual perks, and one of the twin pony-tailed spirits abilities was not needing sleep. Tasked as the protector of the Forbidden library, she was almost always sitting on the small stool that sat in front of the only door in the room. She also had total control as to where the hidden room was located at any given time, or so she thought. Somehow, the guest in green was able to access the room, and even though Beatrice had yet to see it, she presumed Mario would be able to do the same based on his relation to Luigi. She thought it was a simple miscalculation on how she linked the doors through the mansion, but she was proven wrong as while she was reading to herself, Luigi was shaking nervously directly in front of her.

Luigi was still in his normal outfit, and he had his hands in a karate position, putting up a flimsy mental wall between him and the human-like spirit. He was mumbling behind his locked lips, and before he attempted to speak to Beatrice, she addressed him first in a stuck-up voice.

"Did you come in here for something, or do you want Betty to take some more of your mana, I wonder?" Beatrice said with a tilt of her head.

Luigi yelped slightly as he raised his hands in front of his face whilst responding. "N-N-No, I w-wanted to-a ask-a y-you about-a something." Luigi was stuttering over every other word he spoke and looked as if he was staring at a ghost.

"Why is it that you are up so late; don't you pesky humans normally sleep at night?" Beatrice dodged his question swiftly, showing no interest in helping the cowering plumber.

Luigi looked behind him and focused on the door. The thought of running out of the room was tempting, but something inside of him propelled him to hold his ground. He clenched his fists, raised his shoulders, and took in a deep breath before responding.

"W-Well, normally, but needed to-a ask-a you something." He held his hands close to his sides and continued to speak in a frightened tone.

Beatrice, who had her head down in the book sitting in her lap, looked up with curiosity. "What would a simple-minded individual such as yourself need my help for?"

"Well, when I came back from-a getting some-a groceries with-a Rem, Mario visited me in-a-my room. It was-a nice, and he even made-a me a drink from-a something he found in-a-the kitchen. It tasted-a little leafy, but it was-a nice and-a refreshing." Beatrice began to lose interest and dropped her head back into her book. Luigi noticed quickly, and the pitch in his voice raised up an octave as he attempted to reclaim her attention. "B-but-a Mario wasn't-a looking so good, and he was-a worried about-a something. I wanted to-a-ask him about it, but I didn't-a-know if should. So, I was-a curious if you could-a watch over him for-a bit."

Beatrice looked at Luigi with the same blank look that she always had before responding. "What do you take me for, a baby sitter, I suppose?"

"N-No," Luigi leaned forward a bit, inching slightly closer to the small spirit girl. "I'm just-a worried about-a-my bro."

She closed her eyes and pondered for a short while before shooting her hand outwardly with an open palm. Luigi flinched backward, shooting his hands back up into a defensive position, locking his eyelids shut, and lifting up one of his legs off the floor.

"Fine, if you want him to be protected, then protection he shall get. As long as you stop pestering me, I suppose" Luigi opened one eye and loosened his body posture.

"O-Oh, ok, well t-thank-a you very…" Luigi was reaching over to shake Beatrice's hand, but she interrupted him mid-sentence sternly and inched her hand farther away from him.

"You know what will happen if you don't listen, I suppose." Her warning made the green plumber pause for a second, before reaching over and shaking her hand with a loose grip. Beatrice almost pierced Luigi's gloves with her sharp pink nails, and it almost felt like some magical energy was transferring between their palms, but Luigi couldn't say for sure. Beatrice was quick to break away and return her hand to her side, as the green Italian rubbed his gently.

"Good, now leave Betty in peace." Beatrice turned the page in the large book in her lap and began to ignore Luigi's presence.

Luigi started to turn around but looked back at the spirit girl with curiosity. "So, you'll look after-a Mario, right?"

Beatrice shot a piercing glare towards him and lifted her right hand up to cast a small black ball of dark magic. "Did you even listen to Betty, I wonder?"

Luigi, recalling what happened the last time when he confronted Beatrice, dashed out of the room with his hands gripping his hat tightly. He only spat out a worried "Nothing!" Before slamming the door behind him. Once again alone, Beatrice chuckled to herself before returning her attention to the book that was resting on her lap.

* * *

Due to the lack of electrical lighting, Roswaal's mansion was almost pitch black in the night, aside from the light of a full moon passing through the windows on the exterior walls. The sun had just dropped below the horizon, and the manor was eerily quiet, or it would have been if it weren't for one sleepless soul.

Normally Rem would have still been working late into the evening, finishing up any uncompleted or poorly done chores, but with the help of Mario and Luigi, she was already in bed. However, due to the sudden change in sleep schedule, amongst other things, she was unable to fall asleep. Lying in her bed, void of any movement, Rem was staring blankly at the ceiling, waiting for the hours to slip by until she eventually fell asleep.

There was something on her mind, and it was not a pleasant thought. It was flowing through her mind like a poisoned river filled with a toxic sludge. A headache was starting to form in the front of her head, and it wasn't making sleeping any easier. The blue haired maid tossed the bed sheets to the side and kicked her legs out to the side of her bed. She was wearing nothing but a solid light blue nightgown that reached down to her ankles. It was a drastic change to the flamboyant and almost provocative maid's outfit she would normally wear that was detailed with an extravagant design from the flowers that arched across the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her silk nightgown was more in line with the Mario bro's value of 'function over fashion' with their clothing, being made to fulfill its purpose effectively rather than looking visually appealing to others.

Rem slipped out of her soft twin sized bed, feeling the cool wooden floorboards rub against her soft bare feet. Without making a sound, she swiftly glided across the floor and exited her room on the second floor. After wandering aimlessly for a while, as dark thoughts lingered in her mind, she made her way to the large central staircase that led up to the third floor, with branching paths that linked the other levels of the mansion together. She crept up the steps and started to follow the right hallway into a door that led into a circular corridor filled with rooms for guests of her masters. She took a left and started to trek through the endless hallway until she stopped suddenly.

Rem sniffed the air, and a dark, magical stench filled her nose, causing her stomach to shrivel up, and her fists tighten. She turned to her left and started staring down the door next to her. Part of her wanted to walk away, but another, stronger part drover her to enter the room.

Inside was another guest room like the countless others that resided in the mansion, but there was a clumpy yellow belt lying on the chair, a red hat with a strange symbol on it was sitting on the nightstand, and a chubby man in his early twenties was sleeping in the bed hugging the back of the room. Without making a sound, Rem snuck across the room next to the sleeping Mario. She moved past the foot of the bed, where his large brown boot-like shoes sat idly, and stopped directly next to the head of the dozing plumber. For the first time, Rem saw what the top of Mario's head looked like without a hat on, and noticed that the brown hair that stuck out at the sides were actually sideburns. His jaw would open wide as he took in a large bite of air, only to heavily sigh it out, but despite the exaggerated movements, one would have to move ones hear next to his mouth to hear him. One of his hands rested under the bed sheets to his side, while the other rose and fell with the movement of his belly. Gazing at Mario was like watching a baby bear in hibernation.

At first, nothing felt off about Mario, but the longer Rem inspected him the more her feelings turned sour. There was a dark smell emanating from Mario, the same one she noticed from the first time she looked at him; It was a stench she experienced long ago and despised with every inch of her being. It started with a tightening in her arms, but soon every muscle in her body locked up. Her teeth ground against each other, as her toes dug into the ground. Rem took in another breath, and vile flashbacks quickly corrupted her innocent mind. Her eyes lost their color. Her fists tightened into a bony ball, and with a magical glow, a large morning star attached to a chain that led to a handle nestled tightly in Rem's hands dropped onto the floor.

For a second, her arms were shaking, holding Rem back from for filling her desires, but after recalling her encounters with the Mario bros throughout the day, any resentment that resided in her dissipated. In a single upwards movement, she raised her arm into the air, gripping the handle and chain tightly. Her eyes were void of any emotion, as the large metal ball hung over Mario, ready to strike down onto him. Rem sniffed the air once more and was about to snap her wrist down with killing force if it weren't for the stern voice that pierced the silence of the room.

"What is it that you are trying to do, I wonder?"

Beatrice was standing inches from the doorway with the Forbidden Library filling the space behind the small spirit girl. Rem's gasped as her eyes went from anger to terror while stumbled away from the sleeping man, entering a cowering position a few feet from where she was standing previously. The morning star that hung-over Mario a moment ago disappeared once more and the red Italian didn't even stir in his sleep from the sudden commotion that occurred around him.

"B-B-Beatrice! What are you doing here?" In all of Rem's years of working in the mansion, never has she seen the spirit leave her guard over the library unless Puck or food was involved.

"Protecting your guest, I suppose." The blond-haired girl waltzed over to the end of the queen-sized bed, watching the Mario sleep intently. "The green man made a contract with me for the protection of his brother."

"What?" Rem's voice was filled with confusion but quickly transitioned into suspicion. "Why would Luigi-sama do such a thing."

Beatrice threw her hands into the air whilst rebutting the blue-haired maid. "I don't' think he fully understands the commitment to making a deal with a spirit. The foolish boy seemed more like he was making an agreement rather than anything else."

Rem recovered from the sudden shock of confronting the small spirit and regained her cold voice. "The smell, you can smell the stench of the witch coming off him can't you." The tone of her voice sharpened and raised in volume, without consideration of the sleeping plumber in her room. "How can you make such a deal for protecting a man associated with the Witch."

Despite the pink Victorian dress pacifying her appearance, Beatrice sharpened her eyes and aimed them at Rem. "You are failing to see past your emotions, I suppose."

The small maid raised her voice once more and was almost screaming at the spirit girl in anger. "Did you do this on purpose?! Is this some kind of Joke to you?! You know the pain it causes me and yet you side with this lying slob of a man?! He is one of them, there isn't any way he can't! Even you won't do anything about it, I will!" Two sharp icicle daggers formed next to the blue demon, and she split her stance into a readied position. Beatrice, however, wasn't going to be bossed so easily. With the wave of her hand, a shockwave of wind rushed past Rem with a nipping cold. The ends of her nightgown danced through the air and the giant curtains that hung on the wall, few backward letting in more moonlight into the room.

"If reason can't be talked into you, then Betty will show you, I suppose." With her other hand, Beatrice casted a small white cloud of magic above Mario. At first, it was as small as a plum, but it started to grow into a large clump of gas hovering above Mario. The spirit snapped her fingers, and a yellow line linked his head with the fluffy cloud above him. Rem was confused at first, maintaining her fighting position as she continued to stare down Beatrice with closed fists until a voice called out from her left.

"Let's-a-go!" Mario's voice echoed into Rem's ears, but when she looked towards the mustached man, she noticed that it wasn't him that spoke, but rather a voice from the cloud. The white transitioned into a sea of vibrant greens and blues as a large open landscape faded in from the blank whiteness. A large mountain spiraled in the distance, and a cannon was armed close by, guarded by a strange red ball creature with white eyes and small rope coming out of the top of it. In the middle of the magical vision, Mario landed on the ground from a spinning fall with ease, before running out in front of him. At the same time, a melodic jingle started to play in the background of the vision. It was happy, energetic, slightly repetitive, but extremely catchy. Looking into the cloudy spell, Rem couldn't help but feel a sense of adventure, and for some reason nostalgia. The tension in her body melted away, and her open eyes fixated themselves on the strange vision in front of her.

Mario walked through an open field, passing several brown mushroom-like creatures with large eyebrows and fangs, and ironically enough, large golden coins were scattered around like wildflowers. He walked up a wooden ramp suspended in the air and hooked left into a long jump over a small gap, picking up a red coin that was floating in the air. Continuing along the path, a gigantic metal ball with beady eyes and a large mouth filled with razor sharp teeth bounced around before setting his eyes on the fat Italian plumber. Mario jumped up once, letting out a small playful grunt as he pumped his fist up into the air; he transitioned it into another higher jump, before leaping up once more into a twirling vertical leap, happily exclaiming his excitement as he went. The large metal ball barked twice like an angry dog, before launching itself towards Mario. It was attached by a chain to a large wooden post, so it didn't get very far, but due to Mario's vertical movement, he easily surmounted the metal beast that dashed out in front of him.

Rem looked into the white cloud, watching Mario as he navigated the open landscape with a variety of vertical leaps, and couldn't help but feel a sense of confusion. When his brother described what their home was like, she wrote off all of the things he described as pure fantasy, but now she was looking at the things she wrote off fill up a world right in front of her. "What, what is this?" Rem asked openly, letting her arms relax and legs move into a more comfortable position. "Is he dreaming?"

"No, I am simply presenting you an old memory of his." Beatrice moved over to Rem's side, but the maid didn't divert her attention, watching closely as Mario started to scale the tall mountain that was once in the far distance. "At first Betty was curious about him, but based on how the green one worried about his brother, Betty decided to look into him as much as possible. He does possess an extraordinary amount of power, but Betty doubts he would even hurt a fly, I suppose." Rem looked towards the spirit girl, curious as to what she was about to say. "His very being exudes a positive aura, and his thoughts have a childlike innocence to them. His heart is one made of gold, and it's as if his soul is incorruptible."

Rem was confused for a second because of her suspicions. "But, why does he…"

Beatrice cut Rem off before she could finish her sentence. "No, he is not what you think he is. It would surprise Betty if he even knew what the witch cult was, I suppose."

Rem glanced back at the floating memory and noticed that Mario was running across a large hexagonal platform, chasing a large black ball with orbed limbs and a crown atop its head. "But, then why does he smell like them?" A hint of worry was in the maid's voice when she spoke.

"Betty does not know. Perhaps he wandered past some dark magical residue, as he couldn't have cast a dark magic spell of his own, I suppose, or a dark force might be watching over him." She paused in between breaths. "The witch was known to show affection to those who were pure of heart, but Betty can assure you that he is no member of her ridiculous religion."

Rem felt empty inside, and she looked back towards the cloudy vision showing Mario's past once more. A spinning star with dotted eyes was floating above the ground on the large grassy field, and Mario was dashing towards it gleefully. He jumped up and snagged it out of the air as he fell to the ground. Upon landing, he did a small twirl as he threw his arm above him showing off his golden prize. As the magical cloud started to dissipate, Mario pumped his fist into the air while he slept. Rem looked at Mario weakly, watching his nose twitch slightly and his smile grow out from under his mustache.

"So, he isn't a treat, is he."

"No," Beatrice said coldly.

Rem felt weak in her knees, and her heart sunk deep into her chest. Her eyes welled up and her hands went limp. The icy spears that she had summoned fell to the ground and shattered across the floor. She looked at Mario intently. The person who saved somebody he barely even knew; the person who worked in the mansion for no other reason than to soften the workload of the servants he considered piers; the person who showed her nothing but kindness even when she pushed back against him, she tried to kill. A wave of guilt washed over her as Rem observed the innocent man she tried to murder in cold blood.

"Why can't I do anything right." Rem's head sunk down into her shoulders and small tears dripped down her delicate face. For a while, the blue maid wept softly, trying desperately to wipe away any tear that seeped out of her eyes. It was only when Beatrice spoke up once more did Rem look away from the red Italian.

"Come, let him sleep in peace." Beatrice walked back towards the doorway that still revealed the Forbidden Library, she was about to enter the room when Rem choked out one last question.

"Beatrice-sama, what would you have done if Rem killed Mario-sama?" Her eyes were still red, and her voice was stuffy.

The spirit didn't turn when she addressed the blue demon. "Betty would be the person you would end up worrying least about, I suppose. The annoying green one loves his brother more than life itself." Beatrice finally faced Rem, giving her a harsh look with her closing sentence. "Something you should relate to a lot, I presume."

With a hard bang, the door behind the small spirit girl slammed shut. The noise made Mario shuffle in his bed and mumble an incoherent jargon, causing Rem to jump slightly and locked her limbs tightly. When Mario settled down and rotated to his side, Rem relaxed again. She sighed and wandered towards the door. She grabbed the doorknob, wincing slightly as the bite wound on her palm touched the cold wooden handle. Rem opened the door and looked at the sleeping plumber one last time before disappearing back into the darkness of the night.

"I'm sorry, Mario."

* * *

The bright light of the rising sun beamed through the large open window in Mario's room, shining directly on his closed eyelids. He groaned as he sat up, letting out a large yawn as he stretched his arms above his head. Looking to his right, he noticed that the large window curtain was moved to the side, letting in the sunlight that woke him up. He could have sworn that they were closed when he went to bed, but he shrugged it off, passing it off as some a misconception on his part. As he was pondering, Mario heard the distressed call of Toadsworth in the hallway.

"Mario! Luigi! Wake up!" The mushroom man only spoke in that panicky, stress-filled tone whenever some major emergency was occurring, like when the princess was kidnapped. Wasting no time, Mario snatched his hat off of the nightstand and threw himself out of the bed. He landed on the floor with his two white socks on his feet, but one of them landed in a small puddle next to his dresser. He groaned slightly as he hopped over to the end of his bed, shaking his wet foot in the air. He slipped on his large shoes and dashed out of the door with a soggy sock squishing with every step.

Mario burst out of the door and entered a battle-ready stance. Luigi emerged out of his room at the same time, but he slipped and fell flat on his face while trying to fit his heel into his right shoe. Toadsworth was standing in the hallway in between both of the brothers, but he faced Mario when he spoke.

"Master Mario, Master Luigi, you need to come quickly!" Sweat was dripping down his face, and his mustache was a fizzy mess.

"Toadsworth, what's-a-the problem?" Mario spoke with concern, leaning down towards the head of the elder Toad. Luigi after putting himself back together ran to his brothers' side nervously.

"It's, it's bad. I can't comprehend, it's… You need to come now." Toadsworth then speeds off as fast as the old Toad could manage towards the doorway. Both Mario and Luigi looked at each other nervously, neither knowing the problem that was plaguing him. They took off after him, walking just ahead of the elder toad. They made it to the foyer that contained the large central staircase, and it was then when they could hear voices echo from the second floor near where the servant's quarters were located. The exact words were indistinguishable, but Mario broke into a mad dash towards where the voices were coming from, leaving his brother and Toadsworth to play a game of catch-up.

After walking down a few halls, Mario took a right towards where the sounds were coming from. The closer he got, the more the voices started to turn into a sobbing moan. Staring down a hallway, Mario found where the distress was originating but was distracted from it when he saw a tall woman with golden hair wearing a pink dress standing in front of an open doorway.

"Peach!" Mario exclaimed in a joyful manner, running towards her with a slight skip. The woman he addresses, however, was in a completely different emotional state. Peach looked to her left with a worried expression on her face, and her mouth was covered by her small gloved hands. When Mario saw her, his face melted into one of concern. His confident fists loosened, and his stride transformed into a weak stumble. His limbs flopped forward when he came to a stop next to her. "Hey, what's-a wrong?"

His question was answered not by Peach, but by the muffled crying that was inside of the room. The servant's chamber was identical in its layout when comparing it to the others in the mansion, except everyone that living in the Roswaal's residency was inside of the small bedroom. Emelia was standing in the center of the room trembling as Puck rested on her head with his face down low. Beatrice was hiding in the back corner of the room behind the door with a perplexed look on her face. The mansion owner, Roswaal, had his back against the far corner of the room, remaining completely motionless. Despite the packed room, Mario's eyes were fixated on the bed that was tucked away in the left corner of the stall sized room. Ram was sobbing heavily, occasionally choking on her own voice as she cried with her face buried in her sisters' arm who was still lying in her bed.

Rem's face was a deadly pale and drained of all her energy. She was completely still, and her chest never rose to take in any air. Luigi eventually reached the others, but his voice was toned out as Mario's mind started to collapse in on itself. 'How?' he thought repeatedly, 'How did she die?' Rem was the killer, the one who attacked him in the middle of the night, and the one who reset both of his time loops. If she was the culprit, then why was she dead.

Mario's hand reached out, and he slowly stumbled towards the motionless maid. Emelia's eyes drifted towards Mario when he passed her, but when he was about to touch Rem's shoulder, her sister lashed out slapped Mario across his chubby cheek.

"Yowch!" Mario stumbled backward weakly next to Emelia, caressing his face gently.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Ram spoke with ferocity, and her eyes were dripping. Mario could see that she felt tremendous loss, and Ram being overprotective was a side effect of that.

"What, what-a happened?" Mario asked, but it was the magical clown in the corner that answered the question he was inquiring about the moment he woke up in the morning.

"Sooooomehow Rem was cursed, and in the middle of the night all of her mana was drained until there was nothing left."

"Cursed?" Mario mumbled to himself.

"Yeeeees, a dark spell that can alter the internal or spiritual components of an entity. It is often cast through physical contact, and I fear one has taken its hold over Rem."

Ram stepped away from her sister and started to approach Mario with killing intentions. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" The red maid's eyes were like daggers piercing into Mario's skin, and her legs were bent in a position that made her look like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. Mario backed away from the approaching Ram, and for some strange reason, Beatrice placed herself in between the plumber and the maid, shocking everyone in the room when she did.

Ram caught off guard, demanded the spirit to explain. "Beatrice, what do you think you are doing?"

"Honoring my contract, I suppose." She was strangely calm despite the circumstances.

"Contract?" Luigi asked, who now was in the room behind Mario along with the princess.

"Luigi, what did-a you do?" Mario asked solemnly.

"Noting! I was-a worried about-a you, so I asked-a Beatrice to-a look after you." he turned his attention back towards Ram. "But-a-my bro would-a never hurt-a-somebody."

Peach moved up to Mario's side and moved her hand in between him and Beatrice. "Luigi is right," her voice was stuffy, yet still was supporting and caring. "Mario would never do such a thing."

Mario, now with supporters behind him, felt more confident than before when he addressed Ram. "Come on, why would I want to-a hurt-a, Rem…" Mario dragged on the name of the fallen maid longer than normal, and the color in his eyes started to disappear. Looking through the web of people separating him and Rem, Mario managed to catch a glimpse of the blue maid in her current condition, but her arm more specifically. There were two puncture wounds on her hand that were identical to the ones that he got from the dog bite in the village during the first loop. Maybe, it was not Rem that attacked him in the middle of the night, but it was the triggering of a curse, but because of the Magic Mushroom that was given to him, he was able to survive something that should have killed him.

Ram noticed the change in Mario's expression first and was quick to address it. "What was that? You know something, don't you." Mario looked back towards Ram, who's looked to be on the edge of snapping. "Speak!"

"W-wait, it's not what-a-you think. I-I didn't-a do anything, I just-a…"

Mario was interrupted by Roswaal, who started to float above the ground. "I hope you haaaaave an explanation for this, because if you don't it is my responsibility to take responsibility for damaged property." The cloak he wore started to flutter in a magical wind and his normally comical appearance became worrisome.

"Well then you will need to go through Betty, I suppose." Beatrice remained confident, despite the cluster of guests behind her that showed great fear.

"Beatrice, I strooooongly suggest that you step aside." A small fiery light started to emanate from Roswaal's hands.

"Really, you of all people should know that I can't do that with an active contract, I suppose."

Emelia cried out, stepping away from the two opposing forces. "Please, can't we just talk about this?!" Her distressed call went unheard, as Peach pulled out a pink parasol with a white trim, and Ram opened her hands, drawing in magic from the surrounding atmosphere.

For a long while, nobody moved. The air was tense, palpable, and the room was coming to a head.

"Ram?" Mario's voice cut the silence, triggering Ram and Roswaal to attack. Ram used her right hand to cut through the air, creating a magical wind attack aimed at Mario's head. Beatrice created a dark transparent shield in front of her, protecting them from the attack. Roswaal, however, was more prepared and shot a large fireball at the magical barrier shortly after it was formed. Upon impact, a powerful blast shattered the shield sending both magical shrapnel and the people behind it flying backward. Beatrice was knocked to the ground, as Peach and Toadsworth flew out of the room towards the right, while Mario and Luigi were blasted towards the right. All four of them Collided with the sturdy wooden wall, but the brothers got up first. Mario looked to his right and saw Peach crawl back onto her feet, but when she looked at him, she called out in distress.

"Mario, look out!" Ram burst out of the room like a predator on the hunt, and locked eyes with the red Italian. She threw her hands forward into an arrow, but before her attack came out, both brothers yelped as they ducked back to the ground. A slicing gust of air blew past them and cut several inches deep into the wooden wall.

"Fight me you coward!" Ram shouted with anger, as she winded up another magical attack. She was about to throw it forward if it weren't for another explosion coming out of Rem's room. It threw the red maid against the wall, and it knocked both Peach and Toadsworth back to the ground.

"Mario run!" He couldn't tell who said it, but Mario pushed himself off of the floor and back down the hallway, as Luigi chased after his brother and away from the sadistic Ram. The brothers dashed through the endless hallways as the sounds of conflict echoed behind them. They reached the foyer of the mansion with the long central staircase, which the two practically flew down. They burst through the large double doors and out into the large stone path that led to the end of the Roswaal's residency. There was a tall metal fence that lined the perimeter, but it was locked shut, and the brothers were heading right towards it.

"Mario, that-a fence is-a getting closer." The red plumber speeds up upon hearing his brother. When he was only a few feet away, Mario jumped up into the sky, pumping his fist in the air with a rising force. Despite the height of the meal barrier, Mario cleared it with ease as he continued to run when he landed onto the ground. Luigi followed suit, and made an even higher jump over the fence, but didn't land with as much grace as his brother did. They continued to run down the dirt path away from the mansion. The farther they went, the less of the large castle-like house they could see. After running several miles in just a few minutes, the two started to run out of breath. Luigi looked behind him and noticed that only the roof of the mansion was still visible. Tired and hungry, Luigi called out to his brother who was still going strong.

"M-Mario, could-a we please-a stop? I'm-a tired." Luigi panted in between each word. Mario looked behind him, and despite his desire not to, he started to slow down. The brothers slowly skidded to a stop, dragging their feet along the dirt path as they fought against their forward momentum. Once they reached a stop, both of them started panting, desperately trying to catch their breath. There was silence for a while, but Luigi eventually spoke up, despite still trying to catch his breath.

"Oh man," Luigi moaned with a tiredness in his voice. "This is-a bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Mario looked back towards the mansion, worried about the demon that was close behind him. His gaze moved towards his brother when he started to moan in a sorrowful tone.

"Is Rem really dead? S-She can't-a be right?" The immediate shock the blue maid's death finally dissipated, and now that his life wasn't under immediate threat, Luigi finally had a chance to comprehend what just occurred.

Mario almost forgot that his brother had yet to see anyone die, as every time somebody did lose their life, time reset. "No. She was-a dead alright." Even if she killed him twice before, the feeling of guilt and remorse hung over him as if a loved one had just passed away.

"B-But that's not-a fair, she didn't-a do anything wrong." Tears were welling up in his eyes as he spoke. "She was-a fine the other-a day, what-a happened?"

"I, I think Roswaal was-a right," Mario said with a blank voice, staring back towards the mansion.

"What?" Luigi weakly cried, looking towards his brother.

"That-a bite mark on-a-her hand. Whatever gave it to her must have-a cursed her."

"R-Really?" Luigi tried clearing up his face with his sleeve to no avail. "Well, Rem said that she was-a bit by-a dog at-a-the village, do you think?"

"It has to." Mario proclaimed confidently. "I don't know what else could have-a done this."

Luigi thrust his arm backward, pointing down the path they just ran along. "But what about-a Ram and-a Roswaal? They tried to-a kill us back-a there! And what-a-bout-a Peach and-a Toadsworth, they are still in-a-the mansion! They are in-a danger!"

As his brother frantically pointed out the obvious events that were occurring around them, Mario slowly reached into the side pocket in his overalls and pulled out a mushroom. It was green with white spots at the top, and it had dotted eyes on its peachy base. It was smaller than a Magic Mushroom, and its presence silenced the green Italian.

"Is, Is that-a…"

"A 1-Up Mushroom." Mario said softly, holding it in his palm with great care. They were the rarest of all powerups in the Mushroom Kingdom and could possibly be the item that would save their skins. "I picked it from-a-the garden that-a Peach made yesterday, just in-a-case something bad happened."

Luigi was silent for a while, before responding quietly, "Wait, so that-a means we can-a save Rem!" His face lit up with hope, and his slouching shoulders rose up with excitement.

"Yes," Mario said with a similar frightened tone, "but one of us has to-a go back to-a-the mansion and give it to her."

Luigi's smile faltered, and both brothers looked back towards the towering house in the distance with worry. They would be walking directly into danger, going against the strongest magical user in the land and a one-horned demon. Mario closed his fist tightly around the mushroom and started marching towards the mansion with determination.

"M-Mario? What are-a you doing?" Luigi asked nervously.

"I'm-a going to give Rem the mushroom," Mario said, marching past his brother.

His confidence frightened Luigi, who ran up and grabbed his brothers' shoulder. "Mario please, it's-a dangerous."

Mario moved Luigi's hand out of the way, still holding the 1-up Mushroom in his other hand. "Hey, don't-a worry, I'll be-a fine. All I have to-a do is get past-a Roswaal and Rem will clear everything up."

His reassurance did little to comfort the green plumber, who was still speaking in a distraught tone. "But Ram is-a trying to-a get you." Luigi grabbed the head of the magical mushroom, "and what if you get hurt!?"

Mario panicked when Luigi tried to take the powerup from his hand. "Luigi!" Mario exclaimed, gripping the mushroom tightly. "I'll be fine, I can-a do it, and besides, I grabbed both of-a-the 1-Up Mushrooms back-a there so I'm-a good."

Luigi tugged back with a worried expression, unfazed by his brother's response. "But you could… You could-a get hurt!"

"No!" Mario tugged back hard, but his voice was distressed. "I don't-a want you to-a go back there!"

"Mario!" Both brothers froze upon hearing Ram's blood curtailing scream down the dirt walkway. Each one took off towards opposite sides of the road and hid behind parallel trees. Mario hugged the bark of the towering oak tightly, but he quickly realized that he didn't have the 1-Up Mushroom. He patted himself down, but to no avail. Peeking around the tree, Mario noticed his brother doing the same, and in his hands was the magical powerup. Despite his desire to run over to his brother, Mario hid amongst the foliage as his eyes drifted over towards the lumbering demon marching down the dirt road. A red glow hung over her eyes, and wind was fiercely blasting around the red maid as if she was a mini tornado.

"Come out you coward!" Ram's voice was no less violent than when she first spoke that morning, and Mario's fingers were digging into the ridged wooden barrier of the tree he was using as protection. As she marched down the path, Mario noticed that Luigi was carefully watching the girl as well. When she passed the two, he started to creep back towards the mansion, but he only took a few steps before splitting a twig in half with his dusty brown shoe.

In the blink of an eye, Luigi dashed behind the nearest tree, and Ram's neck snapped towards the origin of the sound like the head of a mechanical turret. Mario's eyes went white, and the air in his lungs disappeared. Luigi started to shake uncontrollably, struggling to stay hidden and keep a grip on the magical mushroom.

Ram, watching the tree line intently, started to approach the hidden green plumber. Both brothers started to panic, fearful of the enraged demon. Luigi closed his eyes tightly, and Ram was only a few feet away from him when Mario dashed out of his hiding spot with a booming voice.

"Hey Ram, It's-a-me, Mario!" Ram spun around and saw Mario hopping in place, waving his arms in the air like traffic director. She threw her right hand forward, sending out a piercing wind attack aimed at the red plumber. Mario ducked out of the way, letting the magical strike slice through the trunk of a small tree behind him. He cupped his hands and called out towards Ram "If it's-a-me you want, then come and-a get-a me!" Mario dashed into the forest, quickly becoming lost in the sea of green. Ram let out an irritated grunt as she chased after the red plumber.

Luigi waited a moment before even considering peeking out from behind the tree, but when he inevitably emerged from his hiding spot, he noticed that he was alone in the woods. Looking down at his hands, he immediately knew what he had to do. He had one shot, one chance to get things right. Mario would be fine with the other 1-Up, and the thought of saving the day filled himself with courage and pride. Luigi climbed out of the brush and started running back towards the mansion. His feet ached, and his throat burned, but he carried on. It didn't take long for him to reach the metal fence that lined the perimeter of the property, but this time the large metal gate by the path was opened wide, letting Luigi easily walk back onto Roswaal's property. The dirt road turned to a tiled stone, and the tightly packed forest was contrasted with a freshly cut lawn spanning far off into the distance. He ran around the large central stone fountain, and Luigi came face to face with the large wooden doors that led to the foyer of the mansion. With sweat dripping down his face, Luigi took in a deep breath, and burst through the door with the green mushroom tucked tightly under his left arm.

"Well, well, weeeeeell, look who decided to come back." The moment Luigi came through the doors, he looked up to see Roswaal hovering above the central staircase that led to the other levels of the Mansion. Luigi's eyes went white as he dove forward out of the way of a large fireball that was cast towards him. The green plumber scrambled back to his feet, trying to rush past the clown-like wizard.

Roswaal threw out his arm, causing his cloak to fly out to his side, and he conjured three more fireballs aimed at Luigi. Each one burnt the wooden floorboards directly behind Luigi's feet, but they all seemed to miss their mark by a large margin. It was then when Roswaal noticed the pink glow that was outlining his body. Looking to his left, he saw Peach standing on the third floor holding out her arms forward, with a glowing pink heart coming from her hands. Toadsworth was hiding behind the princess, holding onto her parasol tightly.

"Ah, so you know how to use magic toooooo, Peach-sama." His quirky tone was still present, even as he was hunting down one of the beloved heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach, however, was stern when she spoke.

"I won't let you hurt him." She said coldly. Luigi was heading down the hallway that led to the servant's quarters, and both Peach and Roswaal noticed. The wizard waved both hands in the air, charging up a large fiery attack, but the mushroom princess was not going to stand idly by. She held the front of her dress out of the way as her heels clopped across the wooden floor, before leaping into the air. When she reached the peak of her jump, a sea of pink dust emanated from the bottom her dress, and Peach started to float through the air. Roswaal turned his gaze to the left once more and saw the princess inches from him pull out a large frying pan from behind her. He had no time to react, as Peach thrust the flat metal base of the cooking utensil directly into his face. The wizard fell from the air down to the platform for the second floor, landing with a loud thud as he collapsed onto his knees. Peach dropped down as well, placing herself in between him and Luigi. She dove into her pocket and pulled out a Fire Flower.

Roswaal picked himself off of the floor and touched his now broken nose. "I must saaaaaay, you are much more capable then you let on. I'm surpriiiiiised you need help at all."

The pink princess griped the powerup tightly, causing her body to flash brightly and her dress to turn into a white and red gown. A fireball appeared in her hand, and her hair was done up into a ponytail. "I can take care of myself when I need to, thank you very much." The magical clown looked past Peach and saw Luigi turn around a corner.

Luigi darted through the hallways, letting the doors drift past in a hazy blue. With every step he took, his confidence rose. Eventually, he reached the corridor that Rem's room resided along. His heart started to flutter, and his aching feet propelled him closer and closer to the open door. Luigi was only a few feet away, and he felt like he would explode with joy.

"Don't-a worry Mario, I can-a do it…" In the blink of an eye, the world went dark. No sight, no sound, no nothing. Luigi's feet clumsily stumbled across the floor, before tripping on himself and collapsing onto the floor. The magical mushroom rolled out of his hands before coming to a stop when it hit the edge of the door frame of Rem's room. His body was motionless, aside from the pool of blood that started to seep out of the large golf ball sized hole in the back of his head. Despite his sudden death, the silence was broken with the echoing sobbing from the opposite side of the room. Hidden behind another opened door, Emelia stood wearily with her open arms held out in front of her. Tears dripped down her cheeks, making a soft plopping noise when they collided with the floor. Puck hovered above the half-elf with extended arms, but with a face filled with surprise.

Emelia looked down at Luigi's lifeless corpse and whimpered as her legs gave out to her sides. She dropped her head into her arms and started to bawl openly into the sleeves of her purple robes. For a moment, the two just sat there, looking at their comrade they just murdered in cold blood. He didn't fight, he didn't run away, they just shot him dead without a chance to think for himself.

"Emelia, I'm, I'm so…"

"W-Why did I-I do that!" Emelia whimpered angrily, "He h-helped me despite not knowing who I was, and I-I, I…" She was unable to finish her plea, choking on her own tears.

The spirit floated down and rubbed the back of Emelia's head while sitting on her shoulder. "I know, I'm sorry."

"How!?" She shouted again, muffled by her open palms. "He's gone! I have so little to care about and now he's gone. It's all my fault!" The piercing echo of Emelia's tears filled the room, but despite the volume of her voice, both of the two heard an ascending melodic chime jingle in front of them. Puck looked over first, but his jaw dropped to its near breaking point. Emelia also lifted her head out of her arms, but the sight in front of her had to be an illusion, a dark fantasy.

Luigi pushed himself off of the floor with a drowsy look on his face. He sat with his legs crossed over each other with his back against the wall, as his large gloved hand scratched the back of his head where the icy attack pierced his skull before. He was dazed and appeared unaware of the world around him. Emelia and Puck were silent as they watched Luigi recover from the fatal blow with ease.

"Oh, my head." Luigi moaned. "What-a happened?" He turned to his left and saw a 1-Up Mushroom sitting in front of the door that led to Rem's room. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he bounced up to his feet. "Oh no! Rem!" Luigi stumbled over and retrieved the green powerup from the floor and disappeared into the maid's room.

Emelia was still for a moment but chased after Luigi desperately into the room. Puck fell off her shoulder from the sudden movement and floated after her. When she entered the chamber, Luigi was bent over Rem's corpse, gently tilting her head forward. The green mushroom was nowhere to be seen.

"Luigi?!" Emelia shouted at the green plumber with an extended hand. Magical light started to glow from her open palm, and when Luigi turned around to see his addresser, He flinched up with his hands up in the air.

"E-Emelia, w-what are-a you doing?" The green man jittered slightly when talking to Emelia, with his eyes fixated on her glowing fingertips. Puck also flew into the room, hovering just over Emelia's shoulder.

"What? How did you?" Her eyes were red at the edges, and Luigi could tell that she was worrying over something.

"What? Did-a something happen? Are you ok?" Luigi's gaze darted between the two.

"You, you died, but there was some sound and then you got up again." Puck stuttered slowly, not fully understanding what transpired in front of him.

Luigi's face turned white, but before he got a chance to talk again, the same melodic jingle filled the room from behind the green plumber. Puck and Emelia gasped, and all three of them turned their attention to the blue haired maid. Rem, who was a lifeless corpse only minutes ago, regained the youthful color in her skin. Her chest started to rise and fall, and like a bear emerging from hibernation, the blue maid rose up, rubbing the sleep out her eyes.

She looked across the room and was confused by the shocked expressions on everyone faces. "Emelia-sama, Luigi-sama," She masked a yawn with her right hand, "Why is everyone in Rem's room?"

Puck was speechless, and Emelia could hardly get a sentence out of her mouth. "R-Rem, y-you're?"

She tilted her head slightly, still with drowsiness visible in her left eye. "Did Rem do something wrong? Where is Nee-sama?" Like a bolt of lightning, Luigi burst past Emelia and Puck and grabbed Rem's hand tightly, startling the blue maid.

"Rem! Y-You need to-a come quick! M-M-Mario, h-he is in-a trouble!"

"Eh?!" Rem gasped with both confusion and worry in her voice. "What do you mean."

Luigi screamed into Rem's face, as tears dripping down his own. "Ram! Your sister is trying to-a kill-a-my bro!

* * *

Mario raced through the lush thicket, never once looking behind him. For a while, he could hear Ram's voice scream out his name with vengeance, but the angry demon slowly faded away behind him. His stride never faded though, and he continued to dash through the forest aimlessly. Despite this being the second time in the lush maze, he still didn't fully understand where he was, nor could he identify any landmarks. He could tell that he was on an upward slope, but other than that Mario was completely lost.

Eventually, he noticed a large open clearing ahead of him. He ran towards it but was blinded by the morning light when he broke through the tree line. There was a large cliff near the end of the clearing, skidding to a stop right before the drop-off. Looking down, there were large jagged rocks that lined the edge of the stone wall, and Mario immediately knew where he was.

"I'm-a here again," he sighed while catching his breath. Looking ahead, the sky was a blend of reds, purples and everything in between, and he could help but recall the old sailor's tale that spoke of storms brewing when the sky was as colorful as it was during the morning. Mario never took those kinds of stories too seriously, and without a cloud in the sky for miles, he dismissed the prospect of a storm altogether. However, now that he wasn't running for his life, his mind wandered back to Luigi. His twin was strong, and even if he was a bit of a coward, he had accomplished some amazing things in his life, but it didn't stop Mario from worrying about his younger brother. Hopefully, the extra 1-Up Mushroom that he mixed into the drink he gave his brother won't be used.

He sighed before mumbling to himself. "Oh man, what am-a I doing."

"Betty doesn't know, but running away from Ram wasn't a good idea, I suppose." Mario jumped with fear as he spun around to see Beatrice staring out into the horizon only a few feet behind him.

"Wah! Beatrice, I didn't-a see you there." He moaned, dropping his shoulders and resting his hand on his large belly.

"Good, then Betty's transportation spell worked properly."

"Transportation spell?" Mario inquired curiously.

"Betty's contract with Roswaal allows me to move around space, similar to how one can move the hidden library, I suppose." She paused in between each sentence. "Betty is impressed by your inability to handle the tantrum of a small child."

"Hey, I didn't-a do anything to Rem, I swear!"

"Betty never said that. She simply said that you could have handled the situation better." The small girl's wisdom was both irritating, but sadly true. Mario didn't protest the girl, having no point in doing so.

"I know, but I didn't-a know what to-a do." Mario dropped down onto the ledge, letting his feet dangle over the ledge. "It just kind-of-a happened."

"You are right though."

"Huh?" He tiled his head towards Beatrice, leaning back onto his right hand.

"The bite mark on Rem's hand was the cause of her death, I suppose. Nobody made that connection though before her death, not even Betty."

Mario resumed his previous position, looked out at the bottom of the cliff blankly. "I know, but I don't-a know how I can-a tell everyone. Rem is-a dead, and both-a Ram and-a Roswaal want-a-my head hanging on-a-their wall." Mario then gasped slightly and gripped the brim of his hat with frustration. "And-a Peach is still there! I knew I should have-a gone!" Mario groaned.

"Betty can assure you that the green one has everything under control. You should have more faith in your brother, I suppose."

"What, how can-a you tell?" Mario asked, peering over his shoulder once more.

"Betty can sense his presence in the mansion, due to his contract."

Mario's head drifted away, before peering back over at the spirit. "Hey, what-a kind-of-a contract are you talking about?"

Beatrice sighed and dropped her head slightly. "Your lack of knowledge truly is annoying. A spirit's powers and form is based upon their contract with a mortal being, and they also make a connection between the spirit and the contract holder."

"Wait, why did-a you do that with-a-my bro if you have-a contract with-a Roswaal?"

"How many questions do you plan on asking, I wonder?" Her snappy remark made Mario snap his head forward embarrassedly. Beatrice paused, but once again answered his query. "Betty knows that Roswaal is not pure of heart, and if he so pleases could terminate our contract at any time. It is merely a safety net, I suppose."

There was a long moment of silence, but Beatrice eventually asked a question of her own. "What is Mario's plan, I wonder?"

The red plumber sat up from his seated position and looked over at the small spirit girl hopefully. "Well, I didn't-a really have one, but if you're here then we can-a just wait until Rem gets here and-a stop-a Ram."

Beatrice turned to Mario with a stern look in her eye. "No, Betty's power comes from the Forbidden Library, and from this far Betty is powerless."

"Oh, well I can-a hide in-a-the village, and while I'm there I can-a try and-a find-a-the dog that-a bit Rem," Mario said with a frown.

"Yes, but how do you plan on getting there, the drop is quite dangerous for a human, I suppose." Both figures looked down and peered down the long gap, but Mario knew that he could easily survive the fall. But the two were caught off guard by the screaming voice back by the forest's edge.

"Mario!" Ram had once again caught up with them, marching out of the forest, but her eyes looked dreary, and the slashing wind around her was much less violent than before. "Don't you dare run you weak, pathetic, coward!"

Mario clenched his fists and held them in front of him, but Beatrice stepped in between the two red opponents. "It's not like he has much of a choice." She said sarcastically.

"You're just as guilty as he is," Ram said with sternness to her voice.

"Perhaps Ram should listen to him, the red one isn't as guilty as you think." Beatrice's rebuttal had little effect on Ram, who continued marching towards the red plumber.

"Ram, listen! I didn't-a hurt Rem, I promise!" Mario exclaimed with open arms.

"It's too late for that now." The red maid was closing in on the two, and they both had little room to retreat too. Mario slid his hand into his back pocket, trying not to draw any attention to it. "Just give up, you did this to yourself."

Mario peered behind him, looking at the expansive drop-off below him, before turning back with a rush of confidence. "Ram, I'm-a sorry things turned out-a-this way, but trust-a me, everything is going to be ok."

In the blink of an eye, Mario spun around and lunged off the edge of the cliff. His left hand emerged from his pocket with a Super Leaf, and with the flick of his wrist, a striped tail and pair of raccoon-like ears appeared on his body as he started to fall. Both Beatrice and Ram watched Mario drop off the cliff face in surprise. The two rushed over, expecting Mario to be falling towards his spiky demise, but instead, they saw his legs and tail flutter, slowing his descent towards the next patch of forest. The pink spirit was silent, but very much impressed with his quick thinking. Ram, on the other hand, watched Mario land on the ground with frustration, closing her fists tightly as he raced into the leafy jungle. The maid leaned back as if she was going to jump herself, but Beatrice interrupted her and held out her left arm.

"Jumping off in your current state wouldn't be wise, I suppose." Ram ground her teeth together, knowing full well that the spirit was correct. The constant use of magic was starting to take a toll on her, and the energy required to slow her fall would most likely knock her unconscious. The two stood on the brink of the cliff for an extended period of time, but the sound of crows flutter out of the treetops behind them moved their focus away from the red plumber.

Mario, however, was racing through the forest unaware of the actions of those behind him. Now with the Super Leaf's power activated, he felt a surge of power flow through him as he speeded off towards the village. He had a vague idea of where it could be, based on how he drifted away from the path, but was still crossing uncharted territory. The trees towered over him, blocking out the morning sky, and the rotting trunks of plants that died long ago created barriers that Mario would vault over.

Eventually, there was one log that was so tall that Mario had to perform a triple jump over. He did two small leaps, before launching into the air with one final hop over the log. What he didn't expect was the wooden wall to be resting on top of a large drop that was a dozen or so feet deep. Luckily with his new ability, Mario was able to flutter down to safety without breaking a sweat, but as he fell something caught his eye. Hidden under a small leafy bush, a red tuff of what appeared to be hair was visible through a small gap of leaves. A wave of curiosity washed over the chubby plumber, who upon landing softly onto the grassy floor, inspected the brush.

Mario pushed aside several branches of the low-growing plant and gasped with shock at what he saw. The red-haired child from the village was lying unconscious underneath the bush in the middle of the forest.

"Mama-mia!" He exclaimed, dragging the child out from the foliage lied him out over the ground. He reached next to the small boy's neck and moved his ear over the child's mouth. He was still breathing, but with a concerning irregularity to it. Mario then examined the boy's body, looking for any cuts or bruises, but all he could find was a large bite mark on the child's left arm with a similar to the one on Rem's hand. His heart sank, and his gut felt queasy. Flashing images of her lifeless body resting in her bed filled his mind, and it pained him as he tried to clear his memory.

Suddenly, a low growl rumbled behind him, causing Mario to turn around and rise up to his feet. In front of him was a large, brown, wolf-like beast crouching with hits front paws and flashing is tinged, dagger-like teeth. like a lion guarding its kill, it stared Mario down with demonic black and red eyes. Large red gashes lined the creature's sides as if top several layers of skin were lashed off. Mario's hands shook as a dripping red liquid seeped out of the beast's teeth. He recalled back to the first loop when Ram warned him of entering the forest, speaking of a creature that he knew only the name of.

"Is that-a, Mabeast?" The moment he spoke the creatures name, the beast charged forward towards Mario, barking viciously as it darted towards the red plumber. Mario yelped in fear, dawning his large hammer from behind him and launching it at the beast's side. There was a loud crunch as the mallet crushed into the creature's side, throwing it into the side of a nearby tree. At first, the mutt whimpered, before dropping its head onto the ground. A wave of guilt washed over Mario, as even though it was a monstrous beast, its dog-like appearance made him regret putting lethal force behind his swing.

Wasting no time, Mario rushed back to the child's side once more. Kneeling over his body, the boy's breath started to slow down and regulate itself. It was as if killing the Mabeast that was watching over him lifted the potential curse that was plaguing the child. Suddenly, far off in the distance, he heard a faint distressed call. It was coming from the direction where the Mabeast once stood, who Mario assumed that it was somebody from the village. He turned back towards the child, lifted him up into his arms bridal style, and started to rush towards the voices hidden amongst the trees.

It didn't take long for the indistinct voices to transform into the distressed calls of the adult villagers. Eventually, Mario broke through the tree line into a large grassy clearing several football fields in size. Near the middle of the field, a large group of people were gathering, all of whom were calling out names that Mario didn't know. As he approached the group of villages, several noticed a mysterious figure running towards them carrying a child in his arms. Mario stumbled to a stop as the large mob of parents surrounded him, with one pair rushing up and lifting the child out of his arms.

"Oh, thank heavens!" The father called out, as the mother took her sleeping child in her loving arms, weeping openly and gratefully.

Mario fell down onto his rear end, needing to catch his breath from the constant running and stress-filled encounter after another. As he rested, several of the other parents pestered Mario and mumbled amongst themselves.

"Who is that?" "Where did you come from?" "Where did you find him?!" "Didn't he come here yesterday?" "No, that guy was wearing green, and was taller." "What's with that tail?" "My daughter, have you seen her?!"

The endless voices painfully rang in his ears, causing the plumber to grip his head tightly to stop the pain. That was until one small, slightly squeaky voice silenced the crowd of nervous villagers.

"You… A-Are you, Luigi's brother?" The small boy that Mario had just saved stuttered when he spoke, but he was able to contain the relentless crowd.

"Y-Yeah, I'm-a Mario." He nodded hesitantly. The boy pointed back towards the forest that the two just emerged from.

"My friends, we ran into the forest trying to catch a small puppy, b-but we were attacked, a-and they are still in there… Please, help them."

All the sounds of the world disappeared from Mario's ears, and his mind and body reset itself. A fire lit behind his eyes, and the fat red Italian plumber ascended off of the ground and started to run back into the forest. Everything around him was toned out, and all of the worry and fear that surrounded him earlier disappeared as Mario ran into the lush green forest.

He dashed through the green thicket with superhuman speeds, checking underneath every nook and cranny for any form of life. At one point he even located a Rabbit's den with a small litter of them hiding away from the light. Eventually, Mario ran across another child in the endless sea of green. The large chubby kid from the first loop was tucked under two large boulders beside a tall dirt wall. He lifted them onto his shoulders and was about to carry him to his parents until another Mabeast appeared in front of him. The beast charged after him, but when it was only a few feet away, Mario jumped back away from the vicious creature, and spun around mid-air, slamming his large tail into the beast's head. The creature flopped onto the ground, as Mario hurried back to the crowd of restless parents.

Upon arrival, he delivered the child to his parents and rushed back into the forest looking for another child. He would search around for a bit, find a someone hidden somewhere in the vast sea of trees, defeat a Mabeast guarding them, and rush back to the mob of villagers in the clearing, who would then to the child's health. Mario did the same loop several times over, each time returning with another child, and despite becoming exponentially more exhausted, he kept going. An instinctive drive deep inside of him propelled him with every step, every strike, filling him with determination when his strength started to fade. He was returning from his seventh trip, and after delivering the kid to their parents, he called out to the large group of people with an energy-deprived voice, placing his hands on his knees.

"Is, Is that-a everyone? Is everyone ok?"

Heads turned about looking at all of the children that Mario rescued from the demonic creatures. Just when it seemed his job was done; one last set of parents ran up to Mario with a terrified voice.

"Please, my daughter Petra, she's still missing!" A mother with full blond hair reached down and grabbed Mario's hand, begging him with every inch of her being. He nodded, and even though his muscle ached, and his lungs were burning, Mario ran back into the forest one last time.

The search for the final child was long and strenuous. Everywhere Mario looked was a fruitless endeavor. The farther he went, the less light reached down onto the forest floor. The trees started to blur together, and a mental pressure started to take its hold over the heroic plumber. Mario was reaching a breaking point when he came across a large redwood tree that was twelve feet in diameter. At the base of it, the small blond-haired girl with the pink bow was leaning against the trunk silently, with the same jagged breath he had seen several times over.

"Petra!" Mario cried out with joy, racing over to the last missing child. He picked her up into his arms but was confused when there wasn't any Mabeast's around. It wasn't something he worried about too much though, as his first priority was to get her to safety. Mario ran back towards the same open clearing that he was on several times before, and after making the same trip several times over, a mental map of the forest was forming in his head. He leaped down several drops and climbed over a few dirt walls, and he was almost back to the clearing when something caught his eye.

Mario skidded to a stop near where he found the first child when he saw another little girl staring at the spot where the boy was hidden. He recognized the mysterious girl as the child who had the small puppy that bit him in the first loop. He addressed the girl with caution in his voice, holding onto Petra even tighter than before.

"Hey, what are-a you doing out-a here, it's-a dangerous." She didn't move but instead spoke with a mischievous tone.

"You." She mumbled to herself. "You truly are a nuance, aren't you?"

The air around Mario started to thin and freeze up into a nipping cold. Goosebumps went up along his arms, and he started to shuffle backward, ready to make a mad dash for the open clearing at a moment's notice. "What are-a you saying?" Mario spoke with worry in his voice.

From a nearby bush, another Mabeast lunged itself at Mario, catching him off guard. The sudden impact sent the two flying into a large earthen wall. Mario collided against a rocky section of the wall with his back, protecting Petra as she tumbled out of his arms under a nearby bush. The tail and ears on Mario's body flickered away as the beast lunged at Mario while he was down. He rolled out of the way, letting the beast crash into the dirt wall. He pulled out his hammer and slammed it into the beast's head, crushing it with a killing blow.

Mario began to turn around but let out an agonizing scream as his body shrunk down to half of its normal size. The small puppy from the first loop had its teeth locked into Mario's ankle with a bite force to rival a great white. While his body flickered in an invincible state, he ripped the soccer ball sized dog off of his leg and threw it towards the sadistic child.

The puppy was able to catch itself and land safely next to its owner, who now held a significant size advantage over Mario. He looked up towards the child who was now waving at Mario.

"Bye, bye." Mario's eyes went white as he gazed past her. An army of Mabeast were growling behind the child with teeth thirsty for blood. As the wave of monsters charged forward, Mario screamed out in horror while he watched the sea of beasts close in on him. The first one lunged forward with its jaws open but chomped down on nothing but empty air as Mario jumped up and out of the savage creature's grasp. As he started to fall, another Mabeast leaped off of the other, trying to bite his leg off. Mario skillfully landed on each end of the monster's jaws, nearly splitting the bottoms of his overalls form his split position. As he managed his balancing act, another set of teeth came at him from the side. The shrunken plumber countered the beasts attack with a swift blow with his hammer, but the sudden movement made the monstrous tower he was standing on collapse.

Mario fell flat on the ground hard, but he had little time before one of the dog monsters that fell with him came after him again. A rising swing with his hammer knocked out one of the beasts, but he couldn't help but notice that his power was much weaker than when he is at his normal size. Another dog went in and was able to sink its fangs into Mario's left hand.

"Yowch!" The vowels were prolonged as he screamed in pain. Mario dropped his mallet, lit his right hand on fire, and sent a burning blow as he punched the creature off of his wounded limb. Looking back towards the open area. He saw seven Mabeast's lunge after him with demonic eyes. Mario threw a fireball at one of them but was unable to stop the others from pouncing onto him during his weakened state.

His shrunken body was quickly crushed under the weight of the murderous creatures, and his body was transformed into a living dog toy, being bit and scratched from every direction. He looked out and saw the girl with the small dog disappear into the depths of the forest, while blood poured out of his body and as his limbs were being torn apart. Despite all the effort, he put in, no matter how hard he tried, he was going to die anyway. His body became numb to the biting and scratching, and he began to let go. As the edges of his eyes slowly faded into darkness, he couldn't help but notice a large speeding object knock a few of the creatures off of his lifeless body, and a pair of bouncing lights burn two more of the beasts off. As the others ran off into the endless black, Mario rolled onto his side to see a group of silhouettes racing towards him as his vision faded out.

* * *

Hey, I just wanted to thank everyone who has been supporting me with this story so far. It truly means the world to me that something I am making is bringing joy to others, and hearing your responses in the comments brings joy to my heart. I know it isn't the best, but I'm glad you are all enjoying it. This chapter was my longest one yet, answering some more questions while bringing up new ones. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens to our heroes during the calm before the storm.


	11. Chapter 11: The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 11: The Calm Before the Storm.

The world was stuck in a dark, stinging limbo that filled the around him. It wasn't like the dark void he had experienced several times over, where all of his senses were lost as his body was stuck floating in the endless vastness of space. This time, his chest was burning, his muscles felt like mush, and his whole body was covered in a stinging sensation reminiscent of rubbing alcohol over an open wound. His vision faded consistently between black and splotches of color that made up indistinguishable figures. He couldn't tell where he was, nor what was happening around him, he could tell that his life was in limbo. The only clues as to what was occurring around him was when his muffled hearing occasionally cleared up, and certain voices could be distinguished from the normally mumbled chatter.

"Mario, Mario!" Luigi's voice pierced through the hazy blackness, "Is he going to-a-be alright?"

The world plunged back into darkness, and for a while, he was stuck living in a void of pain.

"You want to go back?"

Beatrice's voice was able to break the spell that hung over him, and as his eyes inched open splotches of color made up his view.

A black and white splotch with a blue head hung over him, along with a blue glow obscuring a purple and white figure on the other side of his body. His hearing once again faded as the blob he presumed to be Rem addressed the crowd. A green and blue oval ran up from afar. Luigi's voice was distressed, as his muffled voice exclaimed back towards Rem. Everything was blending in an incoherent mess, and his eyes started to fade to black, her voice softly whispered to him through the darkness.

"I will save you, no matter what."

* * *

As his eyes inched open, Mario's gaze came across an arched wooden roof with visible support beams lining across it. He was lying in a small bed with a mattress that wasn't that much softer than the rocky ground. At first, his body was motionless, but his fists ruffled the sheets on top of him as he repeatedly clenched his fists, wincing slightly as he performed the simple action. Slowly, he pushed his body up and into a seated position in the bed, using every last bit of strength to sit up. Mario grunted with exhaust as he rested his arms by his side and looked over to his arm.

His red shirt along his arm was ripped profusely, making the bandaging under his clothing easily visible. Mario could also feel the skin underneath his overalls stinging, but the fabric wasn't torn as badly. He also noticed that his body had regrown back to full size, so he must have been out for a long time.

"Oh man," he moaned, resting his hand on his chest. "What-a happened? Where am I?" his eyes scanned the room, observing every small detail until a voice called out from his right.

"You're in one of the villager's homes." Mario looked over to his right, and noticed that in the center of the room, Emelia was sitting down in a chair leaning against a large pillar in the center of the room. Her eyes were closed, and it wasn't until a small feline spirit popped out of her hair did the speaker reveal their identity. "Your one tough cookie though, any longer and you would have been toast."

"Puck!" Mario leaned forward but winced back down from the sudden movement induced pain. "What-a happened? Is-a everyone ok? Is-a Rem…"

"Woah there, calm down there hotshot, even with healing from Emelia and Rem you shouldn't be moving around so much." Puck's face then turned sympathetic, "Those things really did a number on ya."

Mario's mind went back and recalled the events before his wounded state. The Mabeast's closing in and sinking their jaws into every part of his body. A chilling wind went down his spine, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. His head drooped down low. "Yeah, but I don't-a-know happened after-a that." Mario looked back towards the floating cat with a sincerity in his eyes. "What about-a Luigi, did he make it back to-a-the mansion alright?"

Puck's face turned into a frown as he dropped down onto Emelia's shoulders. "Well, yes, he did. He made it back and gave Rem that strange mushroom, but Emelia, she…"

Mario's face became worried as he inquired further. "But-a what?"

Puck face turned grey, and he started to trip over his own words as he spoke. "Emelia she, s-she, Luigi was running back towards Rem's room, and she didn't know what to do. I-I mean it was a tense situation you have to understand, and she…"

"Puck." Mario's eyes were cold and blue, but with a hint looked at him with sincerity. "Did-a Emelia try to-a?"

"She shot Luigi in the back of the head with an ice spear."

Mario's hands started to shake, as his eyes drifted to the silver-haired half-elf sitting in the middle of the room. Puck started to fly towards him and call out to the red plumber with vigor, but it was all toned out by the noise in his head. It was chaotic, hazy, like an indecipherable mess. His mind started to ache, and memories of his brother started to flood back through his head, both good and bad. His fists clenched; he took in a deep breath.

"Where is he, where is-a-my bro?"

Puck, who was now floating inches from Mario's face, gave a response filled with caution. "Outside, playing with the village kids."

Mario let out a large sigh, as he tossed the covers above him aside. The floating cat drifted back slightly to guard the half-elf, and the mustached man inched his body to the edge of his bed. His shoes clomped onto the ground after sliding out of the bed, and his legs immediately felt wobbly. Puck rotated around Emelia as Mario hobbled over to the front door with his hand over his stomach.

"What are you doing?" Puck inquired, causing the plumber to pause Infront of the door. He turned with a small smile on his face, despite looking half asleep.

"Well, I'm-a going to-a check up on-a everyone. Peach, Luigi, I want to-a make sure they are-a ok."

The spirit looked perplexed by his response, and his tone. "You, you're not mad?"

Mario chuckled to himself, with a playfulness in his voice, but with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Mad, of-a course not. Forgive and-a forget, right?"

"Forgive, and forget?" Puck stammered by the Italians reasoning. "But Emelia, she..."

Mario sighed over the cat's speech and started to go on a tangent of his own. "You know, nobody is-a perfect, and everyone makes-a mistakes; but you should always give them the benefit of-a-the doubt." Mario looked past the floating spirit and towards Emelia's face, still sound asleep. "She was-a scared and-a confused, and I'm-a sure whatever Emelia did she was just trying to-a help, and you know, it all worked out in-a-the end."

"But Luigi, he…"

"Don't-a worry, he probably doesn't even-a know it was-a Emelia." Mario turned towards the door but paused before going out it. "Hey, look out for her, and-a let her know that we are-a both ok, I'm-a sure she'll be happy to-a hear that."

"Will do Tubby, will do." Puck said as he fell back on Emelia's tilted shoulder, watching Mario leave the room and enter the village center. "Forgive and forget."

Mario closed the door behind him and was immediately blinded by the bright light of the sun. He held his hand at an angle and noticed that the shining star was in trajectory to dip below the horizon in an hour or two. Looking out in front of him, a large open dirt area sprawled out in front of him, with a large stone water well designating the town center. Small huts lined the perimeter of the circular zone with people wandering about here and there. Mario took in a deep breath of air, absorbing the ambient noise of the small town surrounding him. His attention shifted towards the right with the sounds of children playing.

Mario looked over, and saw his brother being surrounded by the small group of kids that he saved that morning. One of them was on his back, reaching up and trying to take his hat, while another was wrapped around his leg like a cat stuck in a tree. Mario chuckled to himself, wondering how his brother was still standing, before making his way over to Luigi.

"Come on Luigi! You said you would play with us when you got back!" One of the kids exclaimed.

"Yeah, you've been in that house all day!" Another said in a squeaky voice.

"I can't-a play right now." Luigi spoke in a playful, yet slightly irritated tone. "Mario could-a wake up any minute now."

"Well, it's-a little late for-a that-a bro." Mario's voice echoed over the sea of kids, who upon hearing his voice, silenced themselves and slid off the green Italians body. The crowd slowly inched around the chubby plumber, who quickly became surrounded in a circle of children. His hands raised up to his sides, and he even noticed some of the adults looking from afar. The eerie silence was put to a halt when one of the kids, the small red-haired kid with the pointy ponytail, raised his voice.

"M-Mario-san, you saved us." They boy spoke in a scattered and almost frightened voice. Mario also noticed the he used an honorific when he spoke, and if it's meaning was like the Japanese variant, than the red-haired kid was addressing him as his superior. The others behind her were nodding slightly staring at the mustached man with great intensity.

"Hey, don't-a worry about it, it was-a nothing, honest."

"But you went and fought all those beasts!" The large and chubby boy said with an equally booming voice.

Mario smiled at the kids as his brother approached the crowd. "Well you guys were in-a danger, I'm-a sure anyone of you guys would have-a helped each other out, and hey, forget about-a-the san, were all-a friends here."

At first, the kids looked at each other with confusion, but the red haired kid turned back to Mario with a large grin on his face.

"You mean it?"

Mario clenched his fist and hit it against his chest, trying not to wince from the sudden movement. "You have-a my word."

"Wow, you really are as cool as your brother says."

Mario blushed slightly from the complement as an infectious grin stretched from cheek to cheek. However, the moment was short-lived as a stern voice sharply broke the mood from behind him.

"Move it twerps, Lardio has better things to do then play with you." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was Ram who was talking, but what was confusing was the insult like name given to him. Mario spun around and straightened himself, expecting to see the red maid along with her sister, only to be greeted with a large steamed potato being forcefully shoved into his mouth. Still weak from his injuries, Mario fell backwards and landed onto the ground with a thud, causing the vegetable to drop out of his mouth and into his open palms. In front of him, Ram was standing confidently with a basket of potatoes covered with a small red cloth, looking down on the weakened plumber. Looking past her, both Peach and Toadsworth were in a state of total disbelief. Peach had her hands covering up her mouth, with another basket hanging from her bent elbow, and Toadsworth was twitching from head to toe. The children behind Mario all cracked a humorous smile, and a few even started to chuckle to themselves.

"What are you laughing at?" Ram said in a dominant tone but couldn't keep the smile on her face from creeping out.

"N-Nothing Ram-chi." One of the smaller boys said, straightening his back nervously.

The maid looked past the small crowd of children and took note of Luigi's presence. He was stunned silent, like Peach and Toadsworth, but upon making eye contact with Ram, he filched backwards. A small, devilish grin grew on her face as Ram addressed the children again. "Why don't you go off and play with the string bean over there."

The children were skittish at first, but quickly turned around and started to swarm Luigi once again in a similar fashion to the way they were when Mario first left the small villager hut. He reached out from a seated position to his brother, who was quickly knocked off his feet due to his clumsiness. Turning around, Mario gave Ram a stern look, but his questions were instead asked by the elder toad, who spoke in a distasteful manner.

"What do you think you are doing!" Toadsworth said in frustration. Peach made her way around the two and assisted Mario back onto his feet.

"We were supposed to give aid to the weakened villagers, so I gave him some aid." Ram's sarcasm only tightened the tension between the two, but she gave little care for the matter.

"Aid? You could have killed him!" He said with his walking stick waving through the air.

"If someone died to a potato, they should have been born in the first place."

The mushroom man clenched his fist and started to approach the red maid. "Why you!" Ram didn't move, nor did she have to, as Mario spoke up and positioned himself in between the two.

"Hey relax, I'm-a fine." Mario said with a worried smile on his face. Ram was unfazed, even when Mario looked at her with eyes that showed fear inside of them. Toadsworth backed down, tugging at the ends of his brown coat as if he were trying to show off.

"Are you sure?" Peach said worriedly.

"Yeah, but what-a happened when I was-a out? Puck told-a me what-a happened with Luigi." He paused for a moment, letting the sounds of the small town overtake his own voice. "But what-a happened then, I thought I was-a goner."

Peach replied with a forced smile on her face. "Well, after Luigi gave Rem the mushroom, they came out and told Roswaal of your innocence. After that we all found the point where you ran out into the forest."

Ram butted in, and continued the story that Peach was telling. "Roswaal-sama noticed that the magical crystals that lined the road to the village that kept the Mabeast's in the forest were stolen. He flew off to a nearby settlement that crafted the crystals and sent everyone else to look for you. After you jumped off the cliff, they came running out of the forest. We talked for a moment and started a search party looking for you. It was him who found you first." Ram said with a nod of her head towards Luigi, who was now trying to crawl away from his miniature onslaught with children riding on top of him.

The air grew cold around everyone as Ram continued the story. "You were being eaten alive by several Mabeast's, but we were able to kill some of them and scare the rest of them into the forest. Not only were you half of your normal size, but you were also dying of blood loss."

"Oh." Mario sighed with sad puppy dog like eyes upon hearing about his near-death experience second hand. It was almost as bad as remembering them after death. Almost.

"We brought you to the village, as it was closer than the mansion, and started to heal you. So here you are."

Mario was silent, letting everything sink in. He felt venerable and weak, hearing about how close he was to death, despite giving it his all. However, the more he went over it in his head, the more something seemed off. Something, or someone was missing.

"Hey, where's-a Rem? She made it back here, right?"

Everyone went quiet once again, and the heads of both Peach and Toadsworth hung low. Ram was the one to speak up, with a saddened look on her face.

"There is a bridge down that road. Beatrice is underneath it. You should talk to her."

Mario looked to his friends faces, only to receive nothing but silent nods. Despite his aching feet, and wounded body, he started walking down the path that Ram directed with her eyes. It didn't take long for Luigi to see his brother stumbling through the village and dig himself out the large pile of children he was buried under and run towards his older brother.

"Hey Mario, wait up!" His hat was clenched in his hand, and his hair was a fuzzy, dirty mess. It made the red plumber smile.

"Hey Luigi" Mario said as his brother skidded to a near stop next to him. "How are you?"

"Me? What-a-bout-a you! You were-a the one to-a fight all of-a-those creatures."

"I just did what I could." Mario smiled from his brothers praise as the two kept walking though the small village. Everything was so peaceful it was hard to imagine what horrid monsters lurked in the shadows of the surrounding forest. It was almost haunting. Despite this, everyone went about their daily lives, and aside from a few glances from the parents of the children he saved, they blended into the nearby surroundings. "You were a hero yourself, if it weren't for-a you we wouldn't-a-be here."

Luigi blushed from his brothers complement and started to stutter slightly. "O-Oh, I-it was-a nothing." He then frowned and placed his head on his forehead in frustration. "But I died-a somehow. And I was-a so close to-a Rem to when it happened! Roswaal must have-a used his magic on-a me."

He didn't know. Even when Mario was resurrected during his previous loop with the 1up-Mushroom when fighting Rem, he remembered exactly how he died. Luigi not having his cursed ability must still not be able to remember exactly how he died, so Emelia dodged a Bullet-Bill in terms of Luigi's opinion on her. There was something deep inside of Mario however that confused him. An emotion that he hadn't truly felt before, and although he wasn't certain, there was a hint of jealousy deep inside of him. Envious that his brothers lacked his death-defying ability. Not once in his life had he felt this way, but here he was.

"So, I guess that-a drink you gave-a me last night was..." His brothers voice brought Mario back into reality, who promptly got himself back into the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, I was-a worried that-a something would-a happen, so I just wanted to-a make sure you were-a safe."

"Oh, well I guess you were-a right about-a that." Both brothers started to laugh amongst themselves, and the pair began to approach upon the bridge Beatrice was supposedly hiding under. "Well, they don't-a call you Super Mario for-a nothing."

Mario laughed again but started to drift off the main path. Luigi took notice of this, and quickly inquired about his destination.

"Uh Mario, where are-a you going?"

"Looking for-a Beatrice." Mario said, heading down the small dirt hill that bordered the edge of the small brook flowing through the village. Reaching the riverbed, he turned to his right and started to head under the bridge.

"Why?" Luigi pondered. "Is it because she helped us at-a-the mansion?"

"No, it's-a because I'm-a looking for-a Rem." As Mario disappeared under the bridge, Luigi's face grew long, and his heart sunk. The green plumber scrambled after his brother with a worried look on his face.

"M-M-Mario, w-wait up!" The large stone overpass cast a shadow on the two, with small brown mushrooms growing on the sides of the rocky walls. However, there was little space for the two, and even in the dimmed light there was no sight of Beatrice's distinguished figure. Mario, unable to locate the snobby spirit, turned around to see his brother sweating a river.

"Luigi, you ok?"

Luigi's legs were shaking like twigs and he was speaking over himself in a nervous tone. "M-Mario, R-Rem is, when y-you got-a b-back, s-s-she, I-I-I mean R-Rem w-was-a…"

"Could you be any more incapable, I wonder?" The small spunky voice of Beatrice echoed under the bridge from behind the cowardly plumber, who upon hearing the spirits voice, panicked and dashed behind his brother at break-neck speeds. Without Luigi in the way, Mario could see the small girl leaning against a large rock protruding from the earthy wall while facing the flowing stream. Her expression was as stoic as ever, but with her eyes closed in thought.

"Beatrice, it's-a so good to-a see you, I was-a worried back there you know."

"Your presence is valued as well, I suppose." Her position hardly moved upon hearing him, as well as when Mario approached her slightly.

"Are you-a hurt, I mean nobody else was, but still."

"Betty should be asking you the same thing."

Mario chuckled slightly as he scratched the back of his head. "Well I'm-a fine now, after I was-a healed and all."

"That isn't what Betty was referring too." Mario's face went from humbled to confused, and slightly worried, as the spirit turned her head and looked at him with dagger like eyes.

"Huh? What do-a you mean?"

"Tell me, how much do you know about Mabeast's, I wonder?" Mario racked his brain, but aside from the fact that the dark beasts looked like evil dogs, there wasn't much there.

"T-They tried to-a eat-a Mario." Luigi sputtered out from the cover of his brothers' shoulders.

"Hm, you know nothing, I suppose." Beatrice pressed herself back up to her feet and started to stair Mario down despite her lacking stature. "Mabeast's are solitary beasts that feed off the mana of other creatures. They curse a target with a bite, and when their prey sleeps the curse sucks the targets mana dry, killing them, I suppose." Dark memories flashed through Mario's mind, both of his bite and Rem's. "They never hunt together, but when they find a creature with a high amount of mana, they will work collectively together to drain their prey of every last drop."

"Wait, isn't that what you did to-a me?" Luigi pondered nervously.

"No, Betty only tampered with your mana, but Betty did see that you possess an abnormally large amount of mana for a mortal. Tell me Mario, do you feel weak, empty, cold?"

"Uh, a little?"

"Of course. You were cursed many times when you were attacked, and with the Mabeast's that bit you still alive, you only have until nightfall till you die, I suppose."

Mario was silent, but unbroken, the only difference from his deaths before is the fact that he has a clock until he would have to start back over. That is until an idea popped into his abnormally large head. "Well wait, I could just-a eat a Magic-a Mushroom and I would-a be fine!"

"That's what-a we tried to-a tell her." Luigi stepped away from his brother and grabbed his right arm with a depressed look on his face. Mario was curious as to what could be bringing his brothers normally cherry mood down, until he remembered why he was having this discussion in the first place.

"Beatrice," He turned back to the spirit as the color in his eyes started to drain away.

"The maid blamed herself for your fate and ran off into the forest to break your curse. Listening to reason isn't one of her strong suits, I suppose."

Mario went into a panic, and he brushed past the spirit and started to look deep into the forest. His hands twitched, legs wobbled, and his lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves. 'Not again,' he thought as his eyes investigated the dark oaken maze for a while, until a heroic feeling filled his chest. His fists tightened, and his legs spit into a readied stance. Luigi noticed his brothers' body language and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"M-Mario wait, you can't-a go back in-a there, your still injured."

"I'm-a sorry Luigi." Mario said without turning his gaze. "I can't-a help it." Without a second thought, Mario's legs launched forward, and he started to dash towards the forest. Luigi started calling after him, but Mario didn't listen, that was until another voice called out to him.

"Mario, please!" The plumber skidded to a stop inches from the tree line when he heard a soft fruity voice. His legs ached from his sudden movements, but he put that aside when he turned around to see Peach, Ram, and the small village girl named Petra all standing on the top of the hill. Peach was looking at him with soft eyes, causing him to involuntarily loosen his posture.

"Peach, please."

"I know, and I won't stop you." Peach slowly made her way down to Mario, and as she got closer the plumber noticed that she was carrying something wrapped up in a blue cloth that was in Peach's potato basket. "I've know you for as long as I can remember, and if there is one thing I've learned is that when there is danger," she stopped directly in front of him, close enough that Mario could smell the light perfume she was wearing. "You'll be there to save the day." Peach placed the sack into Mario's open arms and smiled. "Be careful."

Mario nodded with confidence, as he tucked the pouch into his back pocket. Peach leaned down and gave Mario a small kiss on the top of his large bouncy nose. Luigi ran up to the two, and Peach stepped back away from them. The brothers were about to dash off into the woods together, when Petra skittishly approached the red plumber.

"U-Um, M-Mario-san, I-I mean Mario." She held up her open palm, presenting a pile of small brown bean-like fruits.

"Hey, what are-a these?" Mario said as he kneeled down to her eye level.

"T-They're boko fruits, they heal your mana." Her hand was shaking nervously. "I wanted to t-thank you."

Mario smiled, and took the fruits out of her hand and held them into his large white gloves. "Thank you-a so much, and don't-a worry, it was-a nothing." Mario stood up and rubbed the top of Petra's head, being careful as to not mess up the pink bow that was wrapped on top of it. "Look after-a-your friends, they are-a good bunch and from what I've-a see, they need-a good hero."

Petra smiled joyfully, before running off over the hill. As she skipped away, Mario turned around only to see Ram slam another care package into Luigi's chest, causing him to curl up slight while caressing the red packaging. He peeked inside of it and saw that it was carrying a few powerups from the mansion.

"Come on, I don't want to be stuck in there any longer than I have too."

"You're coming to?" Luigi winced, tucking away the supply bag of his own.

The red maid gave him a sharp look and spoke with an equally piercing voice. "What, you think I'm going to leave my sister in there? What do you take me for, an idiot?"

"N-No, I just…" as the green plumber whimpered, Ram raised her arm into the air, scaring Luigi into running into the dark green maze. She smiled afterwards.

"L-Luigi?! Wait up!" Mario hollered as he dashed into the forest after his little brother. Ram sighed and started to make her way after the two until the pink princesses called out her name.

"Ram," The maid turned around and saw Peach standing back at the top of the hill, now accompanied by Toadsworth. "Please take care of them."

"As you wish, Peach-sama."

"And Ram, remember the…"

"I will." Ram turned and marched into the trees, and within seconds she along with the brothers were nowhere in sight.

"Do you think they can find her; I've never seen Master Mario this weak before."

"I don't think that is enough to stop him."

Toadsworth looked up at the forest, before turning around and making his way back to the village center. "I hope your right princess."

"I know."

* * *

"Rem! Where are you!"

"Come out-a Rem!"

"Your searching strategy is working perfectly."

"Hey, I don't-a see you trying too hard."

"I don't see you with dry pants, so I guess we're even." Ram's insult made Luigi shrivel up in embarrassment. He turned away from her with a face as red as a tomato.

"Guys please," Mario pleaded, walking just ahead of his two bickering companions. "We won't find anything if we keep arguing."

"Then tell your brother to grow a pair."

"Hey!" Luigi exclaimed, turning his head in her direction.

"That-a goes for-a you too Ram!" Mario sternly said with an extended hand. Ram just rolled her eyes and looked off in the other direction. The relation between the two was like that of a dysfunctional couple, and the weather wasn't exactly giving off a pleasant atmosphere. Not only had the sun started to set, making the dark forest even darker. An overcast was filling the sky and with the aid of a nipping winter wind made their search a sluggish one. Mario and Luigi were able to shrug off most of the bad weather due to their outfits, but Ram who was in a much less durable, and far more exposed uniform was not. Although it wasn't all bad news, as even though Rem was still missing, they had yet to encounter a single Mabeast.

"How do we even know if-a Rem is-a still out here." Luigi moaned showing exhaustion.

"I think we would have figured that out by now." Ram looked back towards Mario, who along with the weather had taken a turn for the worse. He was becoming thinner, and his tattered outfit started to hang looser on his skin. His stride was slowing, along with becoming more unstable. And when Mario occasionally turned around, dark circled hung under his drained eyes. He looked sick, but she didn't bother bringing it up considering he would have been in a similar state regardless of where he was. Clearly, the curses were still in effect.

"But, Mario went down to those Ma-somethings in-a few minutes, it's been hours since she disappeared."

Ram gave Luigi a sharp look. "What are you saying exactly?"

Luigi gulped, but restated himself. "Well, I mean, how do-a we know she's not-a."

"Because she's not-a like us Luigi." Mario said, continuing his forward stride. His brother looked at him with confusion, but Ram knew exactly what he meant.

"What do-a you mean?"

Mario sighed. "Yesterday, when you were out with-a Rem, I read-a-this book that-a talked about-a-the different kinds of-a people that-a live here. Rem, she's not-a human."

"She's not?" Luigi turned and faced Ram who was closely watching his older brother.

"No, She's an Oni. A demon."

Luigi was in shock and stopped his forward trek. Ram spoke in a tone that put them both on edge. "How did you figure that out." Mario stopped walking, and the trio were all staring each other down in a small open clearing. He couldn't talk about how he first learned about the true nature of the maid twins, so he said the next best thing.

"You got really mad when-a Toadsworth said that it was-a good thing that all of the Oni's were wiped out, so I just assumed that you were one-of-a them. Plus, most of-a that-a section was scribbled out, so you had to-a have some connection with them. I didn't-a-know for-a sure, but it would-a explain how you are-a so good with-a magic."

Ram, who was wrapped up in a ball of tension, loosened up, and Luigi did the same.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't have-a told Rem I thought-a demons were-a evil and that I was-a scared of-a them."

"What?" Ram said, giving Luigi a sharp glare.

"W-Well, I-I mean, I wouldn't have-a said that if I knew what-a she was." The green man trembled, shaking like the tree branches caught in the wind. "B-But she wasn't-a too sad about it."

"You upset my sister, did you?" She opened her hand and started kicking up the wind around her. Luigi, having experienced this once before, immediately took off in the opposite direction, screaming bloody murder. He didn't even come to a stop when he tripped over a small bush at the edge of the clearing and continued running off into the darkness. Ram smiled and stopped casting her magical attack feeling content with herself.

"Aw, come on Ram." Mario groaned, and was about to chase after her brother, until he felt a tug holding him back. He looked over, and noticed Ram holding onto the back of his overalls. Her head was down, and her other hand was hanging by her side.

"Ram, what are-a you…"

"Ram is, I'm sorry." For the first time, the red maid wasn't acting tough, and she wasn't a blank emotional slate. She spoke with sadness in her voice. The sudden change made Mario back up and turn to face the red maid.

"Sorry?"

"I'm sorry, for everything. For talking ill about you, for trying to kill you without any reason, for letting Rem believe you were a member of the witch-cult, everything. We've been nothing but a thorn in your side since you got here."

Mario watched as a tear dripped down her cheek and had to restrain himself from wiping it away. He didn't stop himself from consoling her. "Ram," he said with a warming smile across his face. "You're not-a pain. You just-a made-a mistake, that's all." She lifted her head up, showing her one visible eye that was red at the edges. "You didn't-a know who cursed-a-your sister, you were just-a sad, that's all. I don't-a know what-a this 'witch cult' is, but I know that you both don't-a mean to-a hurt anyone." Ram wiped her nose with the arm cuff of her dress and rubbed the rest of the tears out of her eyes. "So hey, forget-a-bout-it."

The same bit of advice that put Puck at ease did the same with Ram, who for the first time that he met her, smiled happily. It was small, but it was honest, and she didn't have to make fun of anyone to do it.

"Come on, let's-a go find-a-your sister." Mario extended his hand, and while the maid looked at it for a while, she wiped her eyes again and walked past him into the forest. Mario stood alone for a moment, before lowering his arm and followed the maid as they traveled further off into the forest.

The two were silent as they marched through the leafy maze, letting the echoing rustling of tree branches scrape against each other fill their ears, but it didn't take long for a certain figure to stand out from the rest of the dark scenery.

"Hey Luigi, wait up!" Mario started running up to his brother, but the closer he got the slower his pace became. Luigi was still, completely motionless. His hammer was drawn with the head of it pointing forward. Upon reaching him, Mario noticed that his eyes were locked in a forward gaze, with his pupils lost in an endless void of white. Sweat raining down across his face. "Luigi, what's-a wrong?"

Mario's question was answered with a low growl coming from the direction his brother was staring at intently. He followed Luigi's gaze and came across an ungodly sight. About twenty yards away, laying low to the ground, a Mabeast was eyeing down the brothers. What was so terrifying was the monster's new appearance. It was still dog-shaped, but it was now the size of a small pony, with teeth that were longer than daggers. It had raptor-like claws and was spiked along its back and tail. The cuts in its sides were staggered and had a thin layer of see-through flesh that separated its insides from its outsides. The thing was nightmare fuel, and its blood-red eyes were shooting directly forward at the two plumbers.

Mario slowly started reaching behind him, when the beast lunged at the two. It dug up mounds of dirt with each bone-crushing step, sending the brothers into a panic. Mario stumbled backward and fell as Luigi winded up his large mallet, both screaming in fear. The beast made a sudden turn towards Mario when it drew near, but at the last possible second, a slashing gust of wind sliced the head clean off the Mabeast. It's body rag doled while its head flew into Mario's lap, who hastily pushed it out as fast as he could. Blood poured out of its open wound, and a dark gas leaked out of its cut marks, dissipating into the atmosphere. The twins turned around to see Ram in a readied position with her arm shot out in front of her.

"That was-a cutting it close." Luigi said, failing to lighten the mood.

The red maid pushed herself forward and past the two plumbers. "Come, they can sense your weakness so its best if we make a move on."

"W-What was-a that-a thing!" Mario exclaimed, rising to his feet once more. It took a great effort to do so, but he was little help sitting in the dirt.

"They are using your mana to fuel themselves. What you experienced before was just an appetizer, this is the main course." Ram continued forward, letting her words echo into the brothers frightened ears. Taking one last look at the beast, Mario chased after her with the little energy he still possessed.

"Hey, w-wait for-a me!" Luigi cried out, racing after the two.

Everyone was on edge, with each one showing it in a different way. Luigi fear was the easiest to see, as he was trembling from head to toe as he hugged his hammer close to his body. Mario's head snapped towards any sound in a paranoid manner, yet always keeping one eye on his brother. Ram didn't show any fear directly, but the airflow around them seemed to be directed towards the red maid at all times.

"S-so, how many of-a-those things are out here?" Luigi ask worriedly, but the answer was not one that he hoped for. Two more Mabeast's crept out of the shadows, and it wasn't long until they started to dash out towards the group. The first one leapt towards Luigi, who with a speeding downward swing of his hammer, crushed the creature's skull like a pancake. The other went for Mario, still unequipped. The beast lunged forward with snapping jaws, but they bit nothing but the evening air as the pudgy plumber jumped up into the sky. The creature looked up, only to have its face kicked in with the heel of Mario's large leather boot. He performed a spinning flip backwards, landing clumsily only a few feet away. The creature started to lift its head off the ground, when Luigi came in with a running swing of his hammer, sending beast and blood soaring through the air. The younger brother shivered upon being showered in the creature's insides, quickly retreating to the safety of the group. Without warning, six more Mabeast's all came running out of the woods simultaneously. Ram raised her arms, and spun them around, sending a shockwave that sliced the monsters into two distinguishable halves'. Twelve large heaps of mass all dropped to the ground, letting one singular thud emanate from around them.

"Hey, way to go!" Luigi said triumphantly at Ram, but when he turned around, he saw the maid go limp as she fell to the ground.

"Ram!" Mario exclaimed, reaching down and catching the girl right above the muddy floor. "Ram are you ok!" he held the maid's hand firmly in his large hand, pushing her soft blades of hair around when he shifted her head towards him. Her eyes were closed, and although she was still breathing, there was something else that caught his attention. The overcut of hair that covered her one eye shifted out of the way, revealing a large scar on the base of her forehead. It was in the same place that Rem's horn was when it was exposed, but it looked as if her horn was cut off. He recalled that Oni's got their mana from the air, drawing it in with the horns on their heads. Could it be that…

"Uh Mario, we've got-a company!" Mario looked at his brother, and then behind him, only to see a sea of glowing red eyes watching them the darkness. They were slowly being surrounded, with only one section of the forest being monster less. In a rash act, Mario lifted Ram into his arms, and dashed off further into the forest.

"Mario, where are-a you…"

"Run Luigi! Run!"

The two broke into a dead sprint as they raced for their lives. They trampled plants and broke through branches as the barking of hundreds of beasts drew closer and closer. Mario's feet ached, legs pounding in pain, arm's nearly giving out, but he kept on. Their chase went into a clearing with Mario and Luigi in an uncomfortable lead.

"Cliff!" Luigi screamed. Both shot their heels into the ground, digging up small blades of grass as they stopped inches from the edge. A forty-foot drop-off awaited the two, and halfway down the slope gave out.

"What do-a we do?!" Luigi's voice was even more frightened then before. They turned their heads around and watched as a sea of Mabeast's flooded out of the forest. There was only one option left.

Mario leaned back and yelled as he leaped up into the air. "Jump!" The red plumber bounded off and began falling through the air. Luigi tried doing the same but tripped off the ledge instead causing him to roll in a ball down the first half of the slope. Mario landed onto the ground, and while normally he would just shrug off the drop, his legs gave out as he and Ram sprawled out onto the grassy flooring. Luigi spun through the air like an unequipped skydiver, completely helpless. Mario tried to rush to his brothers aid but was only able to rise to a knee when his brother reached the ground. However, he never landed, but rather floated above it for a short while before flopping down into the dirt like a slab of meat. Mario looked over at Ram and saw a stream of blood dripping out of her forehead but was unsure if it was from use of magic, or from the fall. Mario got back on his feet, and made his way over to Ram, who was still somehow alive. He grabbed her hand and started pulling Ram over to the cliff wall. Luigi, who after plucking his nose out of the ground, joined his brother and moved the maid over to a safer position.

"There," Mario sighed; wiping sweat from his brow while leaning against the earthen wall. "That should-a do it."

Luigi, who was looking up at the top of the drop-off, spoke with exhaustion. "Well, it looks like they aren't-a coming after us any time soon."

"Guess even-a-those things won't-a jump off of-a-cliff."

Luigi smiled as he looked up again, but his face quickly melted into confusion. "Uh Mario, you should-a take a look at-a this."

Mario, curious as to what his brother could be seeing, limped over to his brothers' side and gazed upwards. There wasn't much to look at, aside from one of the Mabeast's turning away from the cliff, but they heard everything. The sounds of dog barking and whimpering drifted down into the brother's ears. The noises of meat smashing, blood splattering, bone-crushing seemed to go on forever, until in an instant, it stopped. That was until something was hurled off the cliff and started falling towards them.

"Look out!" Both brothers dashed back towards the safety of the small overhang that formed against the wall. Their eyes shot back out into the clearing, watching as a mangled Mabeast corpse smashed into the ground, crushing it into a bloody pulp. For a while, they just stared at it, eyes glued to the goopy pile of blood and bones.

"What do-a you think?" Luigi's question was once again answered for him, as another figure crashed down into the open clearing, making the green plumber squeak when she did so. Mario's heart was in a mixed state, joyous that they found her, but heartbroken by the state she was in. Her hair was mangled, dress torn up, and covered from head to toe in an unremovable coat of blood. She was panting like an angry grizzly bear, gripping the handle of her morning star tightly. Whether it was common sense, fear, or primal instinct, something stopped Mario from saying her name. Luigi didn't.

"Rem! You're ok!" Luigi's face was like that of a child on their birthday, that was until she turned around. Rem craned her neck unnaturally and started to grunt heavily. Her horn was drawn, glowing brightly in the darkness of the forest, with a large stream of blood seeping down her face like a flat red snake. Nose flared, teeth grinding against each other, and her eyes. The one eye was widened like that of a wild animal on the hunt, but the one covered by her hair, just barely visible, was black with a red glow, piercing the brother's souls. Luigi's smile disappeared as he gripped the back wall, fearing for his life.

"Rem relax, it's us." Mario pleaded helplessly as the predator turned to face its prey. Growing ever more desperate, Mario crouched down and set Ram into a seated position, eyes closed and head resting against her shoulder. "Look, your sister came with us! Rem?" Mario turned back and saw Rem with her arm winded back.

"Witch!" a blood curtailing scream pierced the air as Rem flicked the spiked metal ball towards her target. Mario's eyes widened and ducked out of the way of the impending blow. She followed up with a downward swing, ripping the morning star and large chunks of soil out of the dirt wall. Mario pushed himself off the same surface narrowly dodging her attack once again, but when she whipped her arm back, the red plumber felt the full force of the ball crash into his body, sending him flying forward. Rem held out her arm to her side, smacking Mario across the jaw, sending him spinning into the ground, face-first in the dirt and out cold.

Luigi watched in horror as she pulled the metal ball back into her hand. Fear kept him in place as the demon hung the morning star above his brother's head. That was until an echoing howl filled the nearby forest. As if a greater force had sent them, more Mabeast's came rushing out of the woods and lined the edge of the clearing. Rem turned her back on her winners' spoils, and eyed down the crowd of monsters surrounding her, each fighting for the kill.

"Witch, witch. Witch!" The demon cried out once more, reaching back, and sending her arm and morning star flying forward. It crashed into the first Mabeast, crushing it into a red mush that coated the stained wreaking ball. The other Mabeast's lunged forward, all racing towards Rem who now had a demonic smile on her face. She swung her ball to the left, killing one, and then to the right, killing two more. Each time a beast died she called out 'witch' in an increasingly sadistic and pleasured voice as if killing them brought her joy. The hoard eventually drew near, but with each attack, Rem dodged another Mabeast died. She jumped, flipped, and slid past the endless number of beasts that attacked her like a murderous acrobat. Eventually, one of them snuck up on her and bit into her arm, but she didn't even wince as she spun around, slamming the dog-like monster onto the ground, and punched straight into its skull. Blood splattered everywhere, covering her face and chest in a red paste. She continued beating into the beast's head until a shadow appeared over her.

A large mallet came speeding into the demon's side, knocking her off the beast and back onto her feet. Mario stood tall once more, and although bruised and battered, he was not out. Rem shot her speeding attack towards Mario again, who knocked it out of the way with another swing of his hammer. The mallet swung around back into her face at the side. Rem dropped down to her knees but sent a speeding jab into Mario's gut. He winced in pain, gasping for air, but when Rem winded up for another blow, he was ready for it. When she launched her second attack, Mario caught her hand, and started to spin.

Luigi watched from afar as his brother battled it out with the blue demon. As Mario twirled around, winding up his throw, the green plumber mumbled to himself nervously. "Come on Mario, you can-a do it. She has to-a have a weak point somewhere." Then he felt a slight tap at his side. He looked down and noticed Ram's hand tugging on his shirt sleeve. Her eyes were hardly open, and she looked as if she was about to pass out again. When she got his attention, Ram moved her hand over to her forehead and started pointing. A raspy grumble tried to escape her mouth, but nothing came out.

"H-h… h-hi… h-h-hit…"

"W-what? Hit-a what?"

Ram let out a scolding cough before spurting out anything else. "H-her horn idiot."

Luigi sighed, and almost facepalmed himself before looking back out onto the battlefield. Mario launched Rem into one of the trees lining the clearing. Chunks of wood broke away upon impact, and the red plumber watched carefully as she dropped back down to earth.

"Mario!" he turned around and saw Luigi calling out with his hands in cup shapes next to his mouth. "Go for-a-her horn! It's-a-her weak point!"

"Got it!" Mario turned back around to face Rem but panicked when she stood inches from his face. With no time to react, she grabbed his throat and slammed him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Mario looked up and saw her other hand armed with the large morning star. At first, he grabbed Rem's arm but failed to push her off. As the spiked ball started slamming down on his head, Mario dove into his pocket, grabbed a small blue mushroom no bigger than a ping pong ball and shoved it into his mouth.

Both the morning star and Rem's arm slammed into the ground, but it wasn't that she missed, but rather Mario disappeared. She raised her hand and scanned the ground frantically, until a small speck of red and blue crawled onto the morning star. No bigger than an ant, Mario leaped up into the air, before pulling out another power-up from his back pocket. In a large cloud of smoke Mario grew back into his normal size, but now with a pair of raccoon ears and a striped tail. With no space between them, Rem could do little when the large tail spun into her face at breakneck speed, sending her flying back several feet. She recovered quickly, but the two were once again met with another wave of Mabeast's dashing out of the forest. Fortunately for Mario, most of the hoard of monsters didn't go for him but unfortunately made their way over to Luigi and the nearly incapacitated Ram.

"Luigi! Look out!" His brothers call made the green plumber crawl out from behind the maid's limp body and strike a protective pose with his hammer at the ready. One beast lunged at him directly but met its fate with a powerful hit from Luigi's mallet. Looking over, he saw his brother confronting Rem once again. Even with the tanooki leaf's power, it was clear that his brother was in a weakened state. Rem summoned three ice spears and started charging towards Mario after firing her frigid attack. The red plumber used his fire magic to shoot down two of the ice spears, but quickly remembered why he waited so long before using them. His mana was so low, each attack hindered his abilities severely. Ducking out of the way from the third spear, he was now face to face with the blue demon. In the same way she did in the previous loop. She wiped out her morning star and performed a falling swing with her weapon. Mario blocked it with his hammer but couldn't throw her off for the life of him.

"Mario!" Luigi hollered, quivering in fear.

"I'm-a fine, keep-a Ram safe!" Mario, however, was far from save, and his raspy voice was truer than his words. Luigi did turn away, fending off another attack, just as Mario's strength started to give out. Rem threw his hammer to the side and sucker-punched the pudgy plumber across the jaw. Mario stumbled backward helplessly, giving the demon a free shot. With rage in her eye, Rem summoned a wave of icicle spears that all shot towards Mario's. the first one touched him, causing his powerup to dissipate. After getting his Barings, he saw the blue demon charging once again towards him. He launched a swinging punch at Rem, who dodged out of the way of his sluggish attack. Mario stumbled forward as the demonic Oni threw a rightward hook across his face, and followed up with low jab in the stomach, and knee to the forehead. With the red plumber stumbling back helplessly, the demon shoved her spiked wrecking ball into Mario's stomach, launching him back through the air.

Landing on his back with a hard thud on the muddy ground, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him. He struggled up onto his feet but froze when he placed his hand over his wound. A large hole took the place where his right kidney once was. His fingers fell into his body, slowing the stream of blood and internals from gushing out of his body. With his other hand, Mario dove into his back pocket where he stashed Peach's small care package and pulled out a super mushroom. Rem had different plans, and as Mario moved the healing powerup to his mouth, the blue demon summoned an ice spear and shot it towards Mario. The attack impaled the super mushroom, sending it flying into the towering dirt wall. The ice spear shattered upon impact, but the mushroom dissipated into a cloud of black smoke, disappearing into the darkness of the night. With hazy vision and blood pouring out of his belly, Mario went back into his pocket and pulled out an ice flower. He started gripping it to activate its power's but dropped the powerup when the morning star pounded into his left shoulder, tossing his limp body to the ground once more.

Face buried in the ground, Mario pushed up with his one good arm to a crawling position, before coughing up a pool of blood onto the ground and his stained glove. He pushed himself up once more and saw Rem with the ice flower in her hands. Mario's eyes went wide when he realized his mistake and dashed forward before shielding his eyes from a blinding light. Mario moved his arm away and came across a horrifying vision. The black in Rem's outfit transformed into a light blue, and in the palm of her open hand was a glowing ice ball. Without warning, Rem cast her hand forward, letting the ice ball fly forward towards Mario. Her attack was met with one of his own, as he cast another fireball, nullifying both elemental attacks. Mario looked forward at Rem, throwing two more ice balls at him. With his one good arm as his mind went blank from blood loss, He threw two more fireballs, one towards her first attack, and the other at her head. The first one hit its target, creating a cloud of smoke from the two attacks, but the other was dodged with the tilt of Rem's head, but it didn't miss. Mario's last attack flew past the blue maid and lit an oncoming Mabeast Rem seemed unaware of into a fiery blaze. Mario stood helpless as the second ice ball bounced into his idle body, freezing him into a living ice statue. The demon launched her morning star into Mario's chest, smashing through the ice and puncturing his heart with a fatal blow, sending his limp body tumbling across the muddy grass, coming to a stop inches from the large cliff wall.

Barely clinging onto life, Mario gazed upwards as blurred Rem rushed into his view. She kneeled down, and Mario's arm rose up in a hopeless plea. Despite this, the demon was still in control of the Oni, who rose her arm up, and shoved a six-inch ice spear into the back of his left eye.

Luigi, who was still fighting off waves of devil dogs, quickly noticed the sudden silence towards his left side. The sounds metal clanging, and magic casting disappeared into the night, he had even heard the use of a powerup, so clearly Mario had the edge. That begged the question of what he was doing, however. He wasn't saying anything, and his brothers silence worried the green plumber.

"M-Mario?" Luigi struggled to spit out as his head turned to his side. "Are-a you o…"

At first, he was in denial. His mind had to be playing tricks on him. Even with the endless waves of Mabeast's narrowing in, with Ram's life on the line, with her sister hovering over the red plumber, his eyes were locked his brothers. Mario's eye was blank, filled with fear, and unmoving. His arm that was reaching into the air slowly fell down to the ground, splashing in the pool of blood his body was spewing out in. The quiver in his legs disappeared, his arms went limp.

"Mario?" Luigi whimpered, water tearing up in his eyes. His throat clenched up, and his nose started to run as he watched a small steam of blood drip down his chin. Rem yanked the tinged icicle out of the plumber's skull, with the sound of a clumpy goop emanating from the open wound. With nothing holding it in place, Mario's head tilted to the side. Luigi watched in dismay as the brother he held so dear looked towards him with his left eye caved in, and the other watching in horror. The voice of his brother started to echo in his head. Memories from his life warped across his mind, both the good and the bad, came to an end, right here. All the adventures they went on, challenges they faced, tears they shed, all would be memories of the past, as Luigi cried alone.

Ram was stuck leaning against the cliff wall, unable to intervene in the transpiring events. She looked at Mario, lying dead across the floor, as a feeling of dread washed over her. Her eyes drifted to her sister, and the dread turned into guilt. She watched as the person who risked his life over somebody, he knew little about be murdered in cold blood by her only relative. It was hard to see her as anything other than a monster. Ram finally turned towards Luigi, heartbroken and in disrepair. Even with the events that unfolded within the last few days, the trauma she felt, was nothing in comparison to Luigi. At least Rem passed away in her sleep. But as she looked at Luigi, she noticed a sudden change. His fists started to clench, as every other muscle in his body started to tighten. His limbs started twitching, not in fear, but in anger. His large eyebrows narrowed as a deadly glare grew in his eye. Then for the first time that night, a luminous crack of thunder boomed from the sky. The Mabeast's started to whimper and back up into the safety of the forest, and Rem finally turned her attention towards the other brother. Her eyes still had their bloodthirsty glow, but now there was almost a hint of caution buried deep inside. A spark of electricity darted across the outside of his glove, followed by another on his other hand, and as if a new person was controlling his body, the deadly look in his eyes aimed themselves at their target.

"You. You took him from-a me." Luigi's voice was firm and direct, even his playful accent had a dark overtone as he spoke. The blue demon quickly formed several icy spears and launched them towards him, causing the green plumber to snap.

"You killed-a-my-brother!" His voice became a blood curtailing screech with tears running down his face, as a bolt of lightning came from above and struck Luigi directly. Electricity shot out and away from Luigi, shattering the icy attacks, and gave his hands and eyes a bright neon glow. He started running up towards Rem, who shot out her Morning star in retaliation. Luigi drew his hammer and slammed it into the metal ball, burying it deep underground. Lightning scattered from his weapon upon impact, which quickly made its way into Rem's side. She tried blocking it with her arm, but it proved to be useless, as the power behind Luigi's swing was enough to toss the small maid aside like a ragdoll. Rem, who quickly recovered off of the ground, threw an ice ball at the green plumber but was treated with an unwelcomed surprise when Luigi threw a lightning bolt to counter-attack. The electric attack disintegrated the icy ball and burst upon colliding with the maid. Rem screamed as electricity coursed through her entire body, stunning her in place. Luigi came rushing him with vengeance, and with a swift swing of his hammer, he smashes directly into Rem's horn, causing her powerup to consume itself and absorb the damage taken.

Ram watched helplessly as the tables turned against her sister. Mario was fighting an up hilled battle unarmed, but Rem's was unwinnable. Luigi was helplessly beating her sister to a living pulp, and despite being an Oni, her magic was child's play in comparison. There was only one way that this was going to end, and Ram didn't want to see her sister dead for a second time. She gazed back over towards Mario's corpse and noticed a dark glow around him. 'The curses must be lifting' she thought, but quickly remembered what Peach had given her. There was one last hope, one last chance for a happy ending. She struggled to her feet, fighting as her ankles tried to give out, and hugged the wall as she made her way towards the lifeless plumber.

The devilish look in Rem's eye had all but disappeared and had been replaced with fear. The demon was still in control, but the girl inside knew her fate had been sealed when the roles reversed on her. Luigi attacked with a downward swing, and Rem met it with her morning star. Metal clanged against each other, but Luigi quickly pushed it to the side, even removing one of the spikes as he sent the metal ball barreling into the ground. The hammer glided through the air in a spinning motion as it came around and smacked Rem in the face, drawing blood and leaving a hefty bruise on her right cheek. The hammer came spinning around once more but was caught just in the nick of time. Rem felt powerless as the plumber pushed his weapon forward, crushing her under the weight of the oversized mallet. Her heels dug into the ground as she held on for dear life. Just then, a shadow appeared over the two fighters, causing them to both look up. The silhouette of an overweight man jumping through the air flew across the pair before coming to a stop above Rem. The electric glow that hung around Luigi disappeared as a joyous smile grew on his face. The figure spun around in a ball-like shape, before speeding down heels first, landing on the horn of the Oni, knocking her out.

* * *

Hey, I before anything else I want to say thanks again to all of the positive response, and I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. It takes a while to make each chapter, as I always want to reach a certain level of quality for each chapter and based on what it sounds like you guys all agree with me.

I also spent a long amount of time working on the new cover art for the story, so I hope that you guys enjoy that because I spent a lot of my writing time on it so some of the later chapters might come out a little later than normal.

I also noticed that you all want Mario to succeed and get through all of the trauma he has been facing, but I guess luck isn't on his side. I guess we'll just have to wait for the next chapter to meet up with A Childhood Hero.


	12. Chapter 12: A Childhood Hero

Chapter 12: A Childhood Hero

A dark haze hung over the night sky, as a bright orange glow emanated from the lake sized lava pool hidden amongst the mountain range. In the center, a large and dark castle with towering spires and keeps that stretched into the atmosphere stood silent. Most of the structure held no signs of life, aside from the tallest tower behind the main foundation of the fortress. At the top, a stork had its foot wrapped up in a metal cord as hit hung helplessly above a small white cloth wrapping a spherical object.

The stork had already accepted its fate long ago and was completely motionless until a few moments before. The owner of the castle, the baby Koopa king with a bad temper, was infused with magic to grow to the size of a seven-story building. It was certain that he was fighting off an intruder, but despite his monstrous form, he was defeated. Now that the castle was quiet again, the bird could only wait until the being who defeated the turtle dragon showed itself. Suddenly, the sounds of rocks tumbling came echoing from a hole in the floor only a few feet away grabbed the bird's attention. It started to flap its wings, but its endeavor was fruitless due to its shackles. The crumbling rocks grew louder, and the stork was at its wit's end.

With a squeaky grunt, a soft green hand with three fingers and a thumb grabbed the edge of the hole in the floor. Another hand appeared to the left, and as the creature pulled itself up, its face was revealed. A small green ball with eyes popping out from the top formed its head, with its large basketball sized nose flopping onto the Stoney flooring in exhaustion. Suddenly that storks' fears disappeared, and it quickly realized that the creature was none other than the peaceful dinosaur-like creatures known as Yoshi.

What the bird didn't see was that a small toddler climbed off Yoshi's back and tumble forward onto the ground. The child almost knocked the tired dinosaur back down the hole, but it managed to hold on. Its head was larger than its body, and the baby's nose was abnormally sized as well. There was also a bright red cap with the letter 'M' emblazoned on it that didn't fit quite right on his head. It had large blue eyes that darted around until they came across the white bag.

Both the stork and the Yoshi watched as the toddler started to stumble towards the package, teetering off from one direction to another and even falling down a few times. The boy reached the bag and started tugging at the top of it, trying his best to unwrap the knot at the top of the package. Eventually, one of the folds loosened and the white cloth unraveled. Inside was another small toddler that had a twin-like resemblance to the other boy. His head was slightly skinnier, his hat was green with an 'L' emblazoned on it, and he was crying up a storm. The green boy's sobbing was painfully high pitched, but somehow endearing.

Yoshi pulled himself up and back up onto his feet fitted with brown boots, and scampered over to the two boys until he noticed something. As he softly babbled to himself in a way only a baby could, the red boy started to pat the other child's shoulder, as if he was consoling him. The green boy's tears quickly turned into a playful giggle, and soon after a burst of joyful laughter. It seemed as though the two knew each other for years, despite only being months old themselves.

Yoshi smiled to himself, before pulling out another white cloth from behind him, and wrapped up the two boys in another package. He placed the small white ball onto his saddled back, before freeing the trapped bird. Without words, the two creatures immediately knew what needed to be done. The stork started to flutter off towards the west, letting the small green dinosaur chase close behind.

* * *

The night was young, the air was cool, but deep in the forest, a quaint little village was amid a crisis. Deep in the woods was an Oni settlement, one of the few remaining safe havens for their kind in the land. During what would have been a time of great celebration had unfolded into great chaos.

Inside a small hut, a screeching cry pierced the silent night. A woman was lying in a bed in the far back of the room, tears streaking down her face, as a large crowd held an enraged man from reaching her. A large man of age was peering down at a table in the middle of the room.

"Please!" the blue-haired maiden called out. "Stop!"

"You know our customs well," the elder said with a raspy voice, "Yet you chose to protect these monsters you birthed." The man never moved his gaze. He moved another step closer.

"Don't you touch them!" The blazing red-haired father fought fruitlessly through a wall of mages as he reached towards the old man. The elder didn't budge. On the table, wrapped up in two small blankets respectively, a pair of twin girls were being presented helplessly with wide eyes. One had large pink eyes, while the others were blue; each with a lightly glowing horn on their forehead no bigger than an acorn.

With a piercing motion, two great horns pierced through the skin of the elder's head, each with a radiating brightness of purple, dwarfing the newborns. He raised his hand and started the chant. The Father started to struggle even more, as the mother moaned helplessly. The small girl with the blue eyes, startled by the mysterious figure hovering over her, started to cry. Her small untrained hands jostled the blankets she was wrapped in. The other child peered over at the other with a stern gaze quickly took note of her sisters' distress.

The old man looked at the crying child and lifted his robed hand into the air. As soon as he did, a great wind picked up around the child's horn. Everyone in the room quickly took notice of it as the girl challenged the old man. He shifted his attention towards the aggravated twin, who with sent a crashing wave of air into the elder's chest, sending him through the front wall of the wooden cabin. The barrier of mages was shocked into a mixture of amazement of fear. The father took advantage of this and ran past them towards his distressed spouse.

"How?" One of the men muttered.

"Such power!?" Another exclaimed.

"With one horn? How!?"

With the threat thoroughly dealt with, the gifted child closed her bright pink eyes, as the other slowly came to a confused silence, unsure of what occurred around her.

* * *

"Hey greenie, you gonna come down here or what?" At the base of a small drop off, a small toad child with bright red spots on his hat called up towards another small child. His arms were lanky, and his equally skinny legs quivered repeatedly. His large nose almost pulled him forward, and with small hairs growing underneath it, he spoke with a constant need to sneeze. His two front teeth were missing, his shoes were two sizes too big, and the large green hat sat crookedly on his face.

"Y-Yes! You just have to-a give me a minute." Pulling at the edges of his bright blue shorts that didn't quite reach his knees. "I just-a need a little time to-a get down, that's all."

Two more toads approached the other from behind, silently snickering to themselves as the other continued addressing the green human child. "Really? It's like two feet tall."

"More like-a twenty."

"What? is Lousy scared of heights?" One of the other toads smirked.

"N-No!" Luigi yelled in a louder voice then he intended.

"Does someone need their mommy, oh wait, you don't have one!" The trio burst into roaring laughter as the oddly misshapen child crept backward with a tear running down his face. The red toad who was happily chuckling along with the others peered behind him and went into a state of shock.

"Guy's, big M, six o'clock!" The other two peered behind them and all started whistling to themselves conspicuously.

Behind the mushroom children, a tall red man came running across the grassy field towards them. Despite their relationship, the brothers couldn't have been any more different from each other. Mario had bold blue eyes that glistened like midnight stars. His shoulders were surprisingly broad, and his arms and legs were like that of an Olympic athlete. He stood tall, higher than his brother, and his clothes were the perfect blend of playful and heroic. his jawline was strong, and if it weren't for his disproportionately sized nose and funky red hat, he would win a beauty contest in a landslide.

"Hey, what's-a-the matter? I thought-a Luigi was-a getting the ball?"

"We were just asking him." Said the main red toad with a politeness that was painfully forced. He nodded his head towards the top of the small mound, where Luigi was quietly quivering to himself.

"Luigi?" The red child pondered openly.

"H-Hey Mario." Luigi sputtered shyly.

Instead of disappointment, Mario tilted his head and smiled. "What's wrong? Did-a you find-a-the ball?"

"Well, I climbed up here to get the ball," Luigi sulked back behind the small overhang and appeared again with a bright orange bouncy ball. "I found it, but-a-the problem is that… I don't-a know how to get-a back down."

Luigi's face went red with embarrassment, and the trio of toads started snickering to themselves. Mario jerked his head backwards with a stern expression, silencing them. He then walked up to the small mound, hoped up and grabbed the lip of the drop-off only six feet off the ground and pulled himself up.

"H-hey bro." Luigi extended out his arms, presenting the bouncy ball slowly to his brother. "You can get back to-a-the game, I'll find-a way down somewhere." The lanky green kid started to turn away, but then Mario placed his open hand on his twins' shoulder.

"Hey, you don't-a need to-a be afraid."

"B-But it's-a so far down." Mario peered over the edge, seeing that it was not that far down, but turned around and place his other hand on Luigi's other shoulder.

"Yes, it is, but-a you can-a do it, I believe in-a you!"

"You, believe in-a me?" Luigi said with a joyful glow.

"Mm-hm. All you gotta do is-a jump down, that's all."

Luigi puffed out his chest and held his arms out at his sides. He marched forward, chanting to himself 'I got-a this,' repeatedly, got to the edge, and froze.

"You good bro?"

"I can't-a do this!" Luigi broke into tears and lost his proud posture. "It's-a too scary!"

Mario rolled his eyes, walked up to the flustered green child, and tapped him slightly in the chest. The soft motion shifted Luigi from sadness to panic as he started falling backward. His arms were flailing relentlessly but didn't little in stopping him and the bouncy ball from falling down the edge. With a hard thud and dust kicking up around, Luigi landed on his back with the wind knocked out of him as the toads laughed from afar. Mario performed a running leap and landed flawlessly next to his brothers' side.

"Luigi?" Mario asked, looking at his younger brother lying motionless on the ground. "You ok?"

"I, I did it."

"Huh?"

"I did it!" Luigi launched himself back onto his feet, exclaiming to himself repeatedly. "I did it! I did it!"

"See," Mario beamed with joy. "I told-a you, all you had to do was believe in-a yourself!"

"I did Mario! I did it! I did it!"

* * *

"Incredible!" A robed man spoke

"What power!" another said in wonder. "At such a young age!"

A small gathering had formed in the middle of a small clearing in the woods, not that far from the main village. A roaring waterfall crashed down into a tiny pond below, with rocks lining the shoreline. Elites of the Oni clan bordered the pond watching a small child standing proudly on a rock protruding out from the center of the lake. She was in a white kimono dress with a pink accent. Her delicate face was topped with a bright pink head with an overhang covering her forehead. A singular horn poked through her hair, glowing a bright purple. Her arm was extended, and the crashing wave of water was split into two streams halfway down if great fall.

"Incredible, and with only one horn!"

"If only she had two…" However, back at the edge of the clearing, another child silently watched from the shadows. She was almost identical in appearance and wardrobe, aside from a color shift from pink to baby blue. Her large baby doll eyes were locked onto her sister, and the magical spectacle she was performing with ease. The village idolized Ram, and they did to hide their favoritism.

Rem raised her shoulders and peered behind her towards a small stump with an even smaller log on it. Several others were lying next to the oaken table, split perfectly in half. The red Oni was cutting the logs before she was whisked off to demonstrate her abilities. The blue twin looked back at her sister, and once again at the stump. With a sudden breath in, Rem puffed out her chest and shot both of her arms forward with open palms. Her mind focused on the small log, and her head started to turn red. Her limbs began to shake, and so did the log. It swiveled on its bottom slightly with a pressure coming from the top end. Suddenly, her vision started to fade, and her knees started to buckle. In one last attempt, Rem refocused herself and put all her might into her actions.

With a small gust of wind, the log tipped over onto its side and rolled off the edge and onto the grassy flooring. Rem fell to her knees from exhaustion and started panting feverishly. 'why,' she whimpered inwardly, 'why can't I do it?'

"Rem." The blue girl jumped in fear, and she spun around onto her feet only to see her sister and the rest of the village elites gazing towards her. Rem bent her head down in embarrassment and shame. The elders started mumbling amongst themselves, but she did her best to ignore their biased criticisms.

"I'm sorry." Rem mumbled.

Ram didn't answer immediately, but instead moved up to her twin, and brushed off a drop of blood that was seeping down Rem's forehead. It hadn't even occurred to her that she had summoned her horn, which made her failure even more embarrassing.

"Come, we should head home. We shouldn't let mother worry." Ram then extended her hand with a smile; which Rem took solemnly. The two sisters and the rest of the village started their trip back to their homes, a journey quite far on foot. The greatest elder, the one who almost ended the lives of the twins, lead the way back, as they and the rest of the villagers followed.

"How can one's magic be so weak?" one of the villagers said in disgust.

"Such a waste, such a disgrace." Another mumbled in an equally disappointed tone.

The blue Oni hung her head in shame. None of the words they said were new to her, but they stung none the less.

"Ignore them." Rem was looked over at her sister, who was now leaning into her ear.

"Why, all they say is the truth." She sobbed back. "Rem can't do anything."

"You don't need to worry about that, not while I am here." The rest of their trip was a silent one, and by the time they returned the day was mostly over. Everyone went back to their usual business, and the twins returned to their house.

"Ram, how did your practice go?"

"Are you hungry Ram?"

"Ram, the elders were talking about your magic practice, I'm so proud."

All the praise was being directed toward the older, more gifted twin, even with Rem sitting just beside her. Both parents were focused on the red Oni as if the other wasn't even there.

"Honey," the mother peacefully asked her spouse. "What would you think we should have for supper?"

"I was thinking we could have rabbit stew, but I would need to go trap one."

Like a spark to a flame, an idea came into Rem's head. The blue-haired maiden rose confidently to her feet and puffed her chest out with confidence. "I can catch one father!"

The middle-aged man turned his head towards her daughter with worry. "Are you sure? It is pretty late in the day."

"I know I can! leave it to Rem!" Wasting no time, the blue Oni dashed out of the small wooden hut with a basket and string in hand as her parents called out after her. She raced through the village and deep into the forest. It didn't take long for her to find a small hole in the ground. It appeared fresh, so she went straight to work in setting up a trap. Rem climbed up a tree and ripped off a sturdy branch, scrapping her cheek in the process. She flimsily tied the string onto the twig and propped up the basket above the hole. The string trailed across the forest floor and behind a large sturdy rock a few feet away. Rem silently hid behind the large stone with confidence written on her face. She even placed leaves in her hair for 'camouflage,' and readied herself for her oncoming dinner. 'Any minute now.' She smiled heroically.

Her confidence started to falter, as the minutes turned to hours, which added up quickly. The night took hold over the world, and a roaring storm started to drench the forest in heavy rain with the blue Oni still hiding behind the large rock. Tears ran down her face along with the pelting cry of the thundering clouds above. She quivered and chattered from the frigid weather, worried about returning home with nothing in hand.

"A-any m-minute, now." Her words spliced between her frigid chattering.

With a booming roar, a bolt of lightning shot down and stroked the ground next to the hole, sending small stones and chunks of soil scattering about. With a high-pitched screech, Rem dashed away from her spot in fear, brushing through countless leaves and spied branches, cutting at her face and clothes. Her feet twisted and turned, until a slick rock caused her to slip down into a muddy puddle, drenching her in a brown coat. She didn't bother getting up, choosing to become absorbed by the earth, alone and forgotten. Her sobbing didn't piece, and the relentless rain kept up its assault, pounding the small Oni child.

Then, within an instant, it stopped. The echoing of the showering rain still hung around her, but she didn't feel it beating into Rem's skin anymore. Her eyes crept open, wincing from her tears and mud creeping back into her eyes. A bright purple glow hung over her, with an extended hand. The world around her was a blur, but the internal bond between then told Rem to take it. She was whisked away in a haze, letting the world fly past her. Ram brought her home to parents who's worries were directed almost exclusively towards the older sister. She didn't know how, but Rem found herself back in bed on her side, facing her older sister.

"Rem." The older twin said in a warming voice.

"Rem shouldn't have left. None of this would have happened if I stayed."

"Rem look at me." The blue-haired girl looked up and saw her sister's hand reach out to her. "I promise, Ram will look after you. We are sisters after all, so I'll take care of you always."

With teary eyes, Rem moved her hand over towards her sisters and interlaced their fingers. "Promise?"

"Promise." The confidence in her sister's voice put Rem at ease, and her body relaxed into her pillow. Maybe, being left in the shadows wasn't that bad of an idea.

* * *

The sky was black, rain crashing from above, pounding the tiled roof with thousands of soft plinks. The sky roared with glowing bolts of lightning, and a dark purple haze that encompassed all. Large brown boots stomped across the rooftop towards one of several stone statues that filled the otherwise space.

With a hard metal clang, Luigi slammed his back against the statue in pure horror. His throat was raspy, and his breaths were erratic. His arms shook rapidly, and his left hand gripped the head of a backpack vacuum cleaner tightly. The brim of his hat kept the water out of his eyes but did little against the darkness of the night. His head around the corner, only to see a lumbering figure with horns, spikes, and razor-sharp teeth.

His head snapped back against the stone structure. The floor began to shake, as large booms echoed around him. His heart began to beat faster, and fall back further into his chest.

"Where are you?" A slow, eerie voice chucked through the darkness. Luigi's eyes turned white, and his body became frozen. He looked above him, only to watch as a speeding fist punching through the statue, shattering it and sending pieces flying across the flooded rooftop. He screamed in terror, stumbling away from the large beast. His head glanced back, only to see bright purple eyes pierce the darkness, watching from afar. Then, a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky for a second, revealing the monster to have the shape of the large Koopa king. There was nothing that could have stopped the horrified scream from escaping his mouth.

* * *

The air was warm. Too warm. Rem's hand reached out Infront of her, but couldn't find anything.

"Ram?" Her body slowly inched forward, clawing out for her sister fruitlessly. She pushed herself out of her bed as sweat dripped down her face. The blue Oni stumbled around the house, looking, without success. "Mom, dad? Sister!?"

As she entered the living room, she saw a bright red-light seep through the crack under the door and the circular windows. A low hum echoed into the house, and blood curtailing screams with them. Her heart started to race, and without a second thought, Rem went bursting through the door.

"There is nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide, and no brother left to save you!"

Luigi's eyes were watering, whimpering behind another stone statue. 'I can't-a do it!' the thought echoed through his mind repeatedly. His mind caving in on itself. His sanity was at its wit's end.

"If only you were your brother, oh so valiant and brave, you might be able to the day." The monster came crashing down in front of the green plumber, watching helplessly as fire filled the back of the beast's mouth. "But alas, you are but a sad little boy unable to do anything on his own."

Luigi spun around and made a mad dash towards the last remaining statue. The creature then launched a speeding fireball towards the lanky green man. It hit just behind his feet, sending the green man flying face-first into the stony wall of the mansion rooftop.

* * *

"Ram! Ram!"

The fire roared through the Oni village, burning the wooden houses down to dirty ash. The screams that were only minutes before were inescapable were inaudible. Non-existent. Rem stumbled through the burning roads she used to call home, desperately hoping, and searching.

After a turn of the corner, she saw him. The village elder, the one that tried ending her life not that long ago, was lying motionless on the ground not that far ahead of her. She ran towards him, stumbling and tripping over chard wooden beams as she went.

"Elder-san, wake u-." She rolled the old man onto his back, only to see his face trapped in a state of horror. His eyes were white, blood dripping out of his mouth, and his large and powerful horns were cut clean off, lying in the dirt where his face once was. The wisest and most powerful of her kind killed helplessly.

Her heart felt empty, and her mind went black. Rem fell back onto the ground, eyes locked onto the two large gaping holes in the elder's face. Then, when she finally broke free, she saw them. Two cloaked figures were standing several yards away, faces hidden under their red hoods. Beady red eyes were staring directly at her. Even with the charring of wood and flesh all around her, she could smell the dark magical stench emanating from them. They reeked, an unmistakable, unforgettable stench ascribed itself into her mind. Then, they started moving. Slow at first, the two mysterious mages dawned dripping wet knives and approached the helpless little girl unopposed.

Rem stumbled back herself, pawing at the dirt as she inched away from the oncoming force. A large wooden barrel blocked her path, keeping her in place. The two figures came charging forward, swinging their blades down onto the lone, helpless soul.

* * *

His vision was fading, going in and out as the luminous figure stomped menacingly towards the defeated green plumber. Luigi sat there, ready to give in. What could he do? He was never the hero, always the second fiddle, but as his world started to fade to black, a speck of red caught his eye. He lifted his head and saw the bright red hat that his brother wore religiously lying on the wet ground.

"Mario?" Luigi mumbled, moving his hand to collect the red hat. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he hit the wall. Then, as his hand gripped the small-cap, voices echoed in his head.

'You can-a do it!' 'Number one!' 'Luigi!' 'You got it!'

'I believe in-a you!'

A fire lit in his heart, burning brighter than the sun. Luigi dug his heels in and lifted his body off the cold wet ground. He raised the red hat to his head and dawned on his hero's symbol.

"You just got to-a believe." He said, staring down the large towering figure, slowly drawing ever closer.

"You just got to-a believe." His fists tightened, eyes narrowed, and lifted his weapon out in front of him. The beast started to dash towards him, lifting a large metal ball as the monster readied the throw.

"I believe-a Mario, I believe!"

The spiked ball was shot out at tremendous speeds but was caught effortlessly with the large head of the vacuum. Luigi slid under the beast's stance, skidding past both the large feet and tail as he aimed his weapon at the back of the shadowy beast's head. The ball went flying once again and hit its target effortlessly. The head popped off like a cork and went flying over the edge of the mansion. The rest of the body came crashing down and shot out a large white spherical ghost upon impact. The crowned specter looked confused as he twirled around, only to for his dark purple eyes to turn white with the flash of bright light.

* * *

Rem screamed into her arms, covering her head as she awaited her end. Instead, two swift slashes of wind and two hard thuds hitting the ground rang through her ears. Her eyes crept open and saw an extended arm reach out towards her.

"Rem." The red-haired Oni twin reached down with an open hand with a gentle smile. Rem's sighed with relief and moved her hand up to her sisters.

At first, she was in disbelief. Shock absorbed her body, her heart stopped, her mind went dark. Rem watched in horror as a blade from behind reach out and slice Ram's horn off her head. The bright pink eyes Rem admired went black as her older sister tumbled to the ground. Blood started to pour out of Ram's forehead, and her breath started to slow. The roaring flames lost their brightness, the crashing of wooden houses went silent. The world slowed to an immovable halt as the red-haired Oni twin's life slowly reached its end. She didn't move when the masked figure collapsed to the ground, nor when another robed figure picked the two up and whisked them away. There was nothing, but the images imprinted into her brain.

* * *

"I got him! Dr. I found him!" Luigi raced down the hill overgrown with dead grass, coming closer to the laboratory at the bottom of the hill with every step. In his hand was his brothers' hat, and the other, a painting that his brother was trapped in. His walk was fluttery, and his smile went from ear to ear.

The man he spoke to was no larger than a toad. Balding on his head aside from a tuft of hair that poked out from the center of his scalp. With a white lab-coat and large swirly glasses, he was quite a sight to behold. The old man was standing by the door of his laboratory and called out to the green plumber before disappearing back into his small rickety hut.

"Well bring him inside, and we'll puff your pall back to his old pudgy self!"

The two dashed into the wooden hut, filled to the brim with gadgets, machines, and concoctions galore. On the front wall, an elaborate sequence of metallic parts made up a great machine. Pistons and magnets were everywhere as if every device known to mankind was one singular part of his crazy contraption.

"Put your brother up on that trey sonny boy, and watch the magic happen." The green plumber complied and slid his brother into a metal box near the top left corner of the room. The professor pressed several buttons and flicked a few switches on a control panel larger than him. Then with the flick of a large red lever at the edge of the table, the machine came to life. The golden painting his brother was imprinted in was squished, scrubbed, spun, stretched, squashed in an elaborate light show that seemed to please the old man, but worry Luigi. Eventually, the process finished, and at the other end of the room, a bright green light lit up on top of a large black furnace with a metal grate covering the front opening. Luigi crept up slowly, and the two watched in silence.

"Wah!" The red-clad, pudgy Italian plumber was shot out of the metal container, tumbling across the floor in a colorful blue ball, before flopping to a stop with his legs kicked out to his sides and head stuck in the large metal grate. His head and eyes were spinning in circles, and he was moaning involuntarily.

It started with a single tear. The smile on his face grew even larger, his arms and legs were shaking, Luigi's arm reached out, pointing towards his older brother, and started to laugh. Not a laugh of humility, but one of pure joy. Tears ran down his face as he saw his brother sitting in front of him. The brother he held close, the one he aspired to so great, he saved on his own. He was a hero.

"Oh my head, what-a happened?" Mario shook his large head from side to side, resting his gloved hand on his hatless head.

"Mario!" the green plumber came running towards his twin at breakneck speed and launched himself into his brother's side. Reaching around him and the large metal barrier that surrounded his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Wha- Luigi, you ok?"

"I was-a so scared, there were-a ghosts, and-a monsters, and I had to-a fight them. I wanted to give up, but I didn't, I did it, Mario! I did it!"

His mind was scattered, unsure as to what his brother was saying, but at that moment, Mario took his hand and hugged his younger brother. "You sure did Luigi, you sure did."

* * *

"If you wiiiiiish for your sister to live, then I'm afraid that she will need frequent mana insertion if she wants to live," Roswaal spoke over an unconscious Ram, who's head was covered up with several layers of bandaging, along with an exuberant amount of healing magic to stop the blood. Rem could barely stand up, let alone make negations with a wizard who just saved their lives. The screams still echoed in her head, with imagery of burnt faces and the masked individuals. "I couuuuuuld let you two stay here, but my services aren't charity work."

Rem lifted her head, eyes still red and irritated. He was negotiating over her sister. How could he do this to her? Her home was destroyed, parents gone, and with her twin's life on the line, What cruel man could do such a thing. There was no way he was good, but Ram. Rem looked over past the cloaked wizard and towards her sister, sleeping soundly in a small bed with the sun glistening down upon her. Her hair wasn't as bright as it once was. What could offer him as someone with nothing?

"Rem."

"Pardon?" His serpent-like eyes moved towards the blue-haired Oni and narrowed. She slouched her head in shame.

"You can have Rem. That what I can offer you."

"You doooooo know what that means, do you? Are you willing to give up your life for your sisters?"

'Why?!' She thought. Ram was the greatest of her kind, held back by only having one horn. Now she has none. How could this happen? Ram would have lived if it weren't for her. It was her fault. Her life was the reason Ram was hurt. If only she was never born.

"Yes. Rem will give up her life. She doesn't need it anyway."

* * *

"Rem! Are you ok?!"

"Mario! We need to-a go, Now!"

"Please wake up Rem. Please!"

* * *

RIP: AlphaDream, Thank you for all of the laughs you've gifted us with.


End file.
